Forgotten Memories

2024

Red cooper, Micro-computer, Micro-motor and Oxygen

H 180 x L 420 x W 400 cm
 

Ice cores, identi ed by geologists as approximately 700,000 years old, are extracted from ancient icebergs. The ice core is sealed in a glass vessel, and a vacuum is used to remove the air from the vessel. Subsequently, the vessel is heated to melt the ice, and as the ice melts, the air from the melted ice is extracted by a vacuum machine and stored in an airtight container. This process allows us to obtain air that is hundreds of thousands of years old. When ice melts, it releases oxygen, and this oxygen is the same as that which was present in the water when it froze. Once the air is collected, it is placed into shaped glass vessels. Dozens of metal tubes lead out of the vessels, with oxygen masks attached to the other ends of the tubes. Audience members can breathe the air from the vessels through these oxygen masks, which are automatically activated and deactivated.