3 channel audio installation, 2023
‘What is my voice when it no longer resounds in my body?’ is a confrontation with the continuation of human existence through digital technology.
It questions the existential meaning of voice cloning technology - can it go beyond being a phoney mimic and just a representation and exist as an extension of the self? It also questions the plausibility of this phenomenon - how is it convincing, surprising and what are its limits?
Through the exploration of voice cloning technology, the work expresses doubt that the true essence of a voice, and by proxy, a person, character and personality, can be cloned and kept alive through digital means. The ownership of the voice and its contextualisation within a body override any digital existence.
This work is part of an ongoing research into digital immortality which explores how far humans can extend their existence on earth through digital means.
Connection to depot/archeological items
‘What is my voice when it no longer resounds in my body?’ sits alongside ‘Fotootje in Hand’ by Elspeth Diederix. They draw parallels to one another as both are ways of preserving the memory of someone for the future.
A portrait, representing the visual memory of a girl in the past, was preserved using the latest technology of that time - photography. The same technology has again been used to record and re remember that girl more recently in Diederix’s photograph. Similarly, an audio portrait of my voice is captured using the latest voice cloning technology. This technology enables my voice to be preserved and to be able to be spoken in the future - new audio portraits of the voice can be made.
Connection to theme of exhibition
This work links to the theme of the exhibition as it touches upon our human ritual of preserving. Preserving memories and the yearning and impulse to preserve ourselves beyond our lifespan. It also questions our co-existence and relationship with technology, technology that we use and interact with daily. What we can learn and understand from each other, and how we can influence and work with each other?