Voice for the divided nations: New Organs of Creation

New Organs of Creation, 2013, 2019

Can a voice speak to us on a cellular level and create a new anthem to bridge a future of national divides?

Grown larynx

"I felt like I was having
an out-of-body experience."

"Almost like meditation.
Felt like being underwater."

"It was relaxing and also
something I’ve never experienced before."

New Organs of Creation presents a hypothetical development of the human larynx (voice box), using tissue engineering, to extend the ability of the voice as a transformational instrument.

The project is made in collaboration with Prof Lucy Di-Silvio who used tissue engineering to grow human cells on the prototype anatomical larynx. The structure of the larynx was designed taking inspiration from other animals to extend our vocal abilities. The scaffold of the larynx was 3D printed with Dr Trevor Coward from the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King’s College London.

Photos from Tissue Enginnering lab, Kings College London

Grown hypothetical larynx as relic of future

The resulting voice attempts to enable a singer to talk directly to the body’s cells. With this voice, the singer performs an anthem expressing a national identity for the future of what many are calling “Britain's divided nation”.

The Singer and the Anthem

Research has shown that sound can help direct the eventual form of stem cells. For instance, low sound frequencies in the range of 50Hz to 100Hz can help coax stem cells into bone cells, instead of other forms such as heart or skin cells. The synthetic larynx is designed to produce these low sound ranges, taking anatomical inspiration from the koala, cat and a man with a record-breaking bass voice.

The transformational voice
Transformational voice = between 0.189 - 784 Hz = TIM STORMS + KOALA + CAT + MEZZON SOPRANO

With a voice that can reach these frequencies, a new anthem (composer, Matt Rogers & sound desiger, David Sheppard) aims to go beyond national divides, sung by a voice (mezzo-soprano, Louise Ashcroft) able to talk to us on a cellular level and change the state of the physical world.

In the development of the piece, Burton Nitta has recorded public voices and voice experts from around the country. These discussions ask for visions of where we are heading as a nation and explore the power of the voice as an instrument for change.

VOICE EXPERTS


NATIONS VOICE

New Organs of Creation is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and commissioned by Science Gallery London.

Acknowledgements

New Organs of Creation

Burton Nitta

In collaboration with

Artistic team:

Matt Rogers

Composer

David Sheppard

Sound Designer

Louise Ashcroft

Mezzo Soprano and Actor

Scientific team:

Prof Lucy Di-Silvio

Professor of Tissue Engineering

Centre for Oral, Clinical and Translational Sciences

Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences

King's College London

Guy's Hospital

Dr Trevor Coward

Consultant,

Maxillofacial and Craniofacial Rehabilitation,

King’s College London

Special Thanks to:

Hassan Mohamed Farah

Tissue Engineering & Biophotonics Division,

King’s College London

Rhonda Henley-Smith

Head and Neck/Oral Pathology Laboratory

Guys Hospital

Prof Susan Standring

Emeritus Professor of Anatomy

Department of Anatomy

King's College London

Declan Costello

Consultant ENT Surgeon specialising in voice disorders

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and King Edward VII’s Hospital London

Prof David Reby

Professor of Ethology (Psychology)

University of Sussex

Simon Broad

Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine

King's College London

The Manx Singers

Sir Joseph Alan Meale

Winstan

Aaron Mcmullan

Noemie Soula

Richard Donaldson