Project Description


Title: Signal
Date: 2007
Duration: 15 minutes
Media: Single Screen Video
Location: The British Museum | Prince Charles Cinema, London

Curated and produced by James Putnam
Event produced by David Gryn & Artprojx


Signal transposes the model of the human immune system onto the architecture of the British Museum Round Reading Room and Great Court. The space becomes a metaphorical cell/organ/body. The four characters within the film play components of the immune system, operating within the space of the Museum, as do the immunological cells within our body. The film is a surreal exploration of micro and macro spaces. The characters mirror the staff and clerks of the reading room, protecting and ordering the knowledge base of books that become analogous to the DNA within our cells.
The film has been researched with immunologist Dr. Kevin Rigley and supported by Arts Council England and NESTA, The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
 The music score for Signal was composed by Geraldine Swayne and James Johnston of Bender.