Taxonomy of Remembrance (WT)

This work is a collaboration with media artist
Florian Zeeh.

Taxonomy of Remembrance reflects on the logic of taxonomic systems, of sorting and classifying nature; the "order of things" becoming a symbol for the order of the world, of society itself. The starting point is a specific butterfly, the Parnassius Apollo, which has an extremely variable appearance and has been a very popular collector's item. It is now almost extinct in most of its european habitats, mostly due to the effects of industrialization, however a myth remains it has been "collected" into extinction. I was able to collaborate with Leipzigs Natural History Museum and document their collection. The Apollo is a white butterfly with black spots on the forewings and black/red/white ocelli on the hindwings – wing markings that immediately made me think of musical scores. The sound work’s base is thus a graphic score deriving from analytical drawings of the wing markings. The forewings’ scores were interpreted by the singer Anne Munka

I teamed up with Florian Zeeh to create the composition: The hindwings’ score is synthesized and modulated with the help of image recognition and SuperCollider. The algorithmic composition programmed by Zeeh translates the score into a generative system: This imitates taxonomic sorting processes by comparing different aspects of the butterflies in terms of their similarity and visual proximity. A process that seems almost endless: the composition is therefore theoretically also neverending. The algorithmic system is however disrupted by additional data used from sensors tracing movements within the exhibition space. The system thus becomes more and more dysfunctional over time.

Voice: Anne Munka
Recording: Andreas Lammel

This work was made possible through funding by KdFS (Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen.

8-channel sound-installation | Computer & Screen | endless | Score: 32 drawings, pencil, ink, laserprint, transparent film on paper, 420 x 297 mm each | Series of 15 analytical drawings: 580x490 mm/ 490x370 mm, laser print, transparency paper, tape, label and pencil on paper | 2025–ongoing