Ai Weiwei, Felipe Pantone, Platon, Lily Cole, Johann König, Reggie Watts, Kenny Schachter and Herbert W. Franke have all preserved their voices, by turning them into unique digital gemstones called Voice Gems. The Founders of Voice Gems, beatboxer and creative technologist Reeps100 (Harry Yeff) and Forbes 30 under 30 musician and multidisciplinary artist Trung Bao are announcing a new metaverse museum: VOICE GEMS META-MUSEUM to house and display the “ARCHIVE” Voice Gem collection of the world’s most notable minds and voices.
The archive collection will go on display alongside the artists’ own experimental voice gems, created from their ongoing investigation into vocal phenomena and technology. Yeff and Bao and currently producing collections generated from anonymous voices, AI generated voices, dying languages and voices of critically endangered species.
Over the past decade, Reeps100 (Harry Yeff) has been working to turn the unique qualities of someone’s voice into digital and physical 3D sculptures, and even a replacement for engagement rings. He collaborated with scientists at Harvard University and UCL, to break down the human voice into its various components. In 2019, he perfected a system, which he calls Voice Gems, that takes a person’s voice data and translates it into colours and forms, that take the shape of a striking one of a kind gemstone, which is as unique as a fingerprint.
Yeff’s fascination with voice began when he was growing up in a rough part of East London, where he felt powerless to make a difference. But he discovered that music was a way for him to offer something to the world. He began beatboxing, eventually becoming a champion beatboxer in the UK. Now, he is growing his own institution with leading figures in the art world and beyond.
In six months, Harry Yeff and Trung Bao have created a digital archive of the world’s most notable minds and voices including Ai Weiwei, Platon, Sougwen Chung, Johann König, Felipe Pantone, Lily Cole, Kenny Schachter, Klaus Schwab, Jesse Damiani, Herbert W. Franke, Reggie Watts and more to be announced monthly.
As the project gears towards its first major physical 2022 exhibition the VOICE GEMS META-MUSEUM is the new home for the VOICE GEMS project.
"The Archive is the result of a lifelong exploration of voice and experimentation. Collecting voices that express themes of love, death and legacy means this is a multi-generational project, we will continue to add pieces as long as we are alive, searching for voices that are not only unique or prestigious, but also that need to be amplified.” - Harry Yeff & Trung Bao
