On Friday, the Design department hosted its second MULTIPLEXER open lecture, with artist and designer Marguerite Humeau as a speaker.
Marguerite’s work is focused on reviving extinct or hidden worlds, as well as exploring the concept of fading, and the impossibility of talking about things we will never truly know or experience. These ideas were present in all the projects presented during the talk, titled “Indiana Jones in Google times”. In her “Prehistoric Creatures” project, for instance, Marguerite attempted to reconstruct the vocal tracks of extinct prehistoric animals, a difficult task considering that the sound organs of these species were not preserved in fossils.
Other works by Marguerite include recreating an 18th century musical instrument forbidden at the time for causing insanity in listeners, and reviving the singing voice of Cleopatra, or at least the closest possible approximation, performing a song in extinct languages spoken by the famous Egyptian queen. For these projects, the artist relied on extensive research, as well as support from scientists from a variety of fields.
Marguerite, who is a Royal College of Art graduate, encouraged other artists and designers to value their work and to invest in their ideas.
The next MULTIPLEXER open lecture will take place in April, with Goldsmiths Design lecturer Stuart Bannocks as a speaker.
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