VOICE GEMS
VOICE GEMS
Digital gemstone generated from Earth’s most precious voices by REEPS100
Voice Gems is an unprecedented digital gemstone archive and physical installation generated from a collection of some of the most precious, extraordinary and critically endangered voices on Earth. This meditation has resulted in unique and vibrant gemstones that represent and honor vocal expression past and present. Voice Gems strives to become one of the largest vocal archives in the world, making tangible the possible future of vocal expression in connection with technology.
Voice Gems uses technology to highlight and celebrate our humanity. When a Voice Gem has been synthesized, the pieces can be displayed as digital video, high resolution stills, large scale projection, NFTs, and 3D sculpture public art installations. Every voice is unique, and with that comes unique fingerprint-like meta-data that can be used for bespoke and human centered generative design.
At the helm of this mesmerizing collection is new media pioneer and vocal artist Harry Yeff, also known as Reeps100, and Trung Bao. Their work is rooted in the idea that the future of design is generative, and that the most valuable works allow us to observe and pull focus on our most human fundamentals. The purpose of using a data-driven generative system is to bring insight, and inspire awe in what is often undervalued or selectively ignored: the use of voice is one of the most complex and stunning acts in all of nature.
“Traditions like the engagement ring are open to innovation. No system is perfect, but if we continue to mine the earth’s physical resources, I would like to simply introduce innovative and provocative alternatives using technology.”
The Voice Gems system is the culmination of 10 years of research, development, and lifelong collaborations with the world's leading voice artists, academics, technologists, engineers and technicians, leading Harry to recognize that the voice is mankind’s most precious tool and one of nature's greatest achievements: it is the purest form of self-expression predating language. His ongoing work presents to us a system that requires the “gifting” of voice data in the form of a recording and a visually stunning archive, inspiring dialogues about value and humanity using new media and technology.
LILY COLE, Activist and Actress
SOUGWEN CHUNG X DOUG AI, AI and Robotics Artist
JESSE DAMIANI, Emerging Technology Journalist at Forbes
INDRI INDRI: Critically endangered species.
'UNKNOWN INTERNET GEMSTONES 10/10': Created from 100 anonymous voices captured online.
'UNKNOWN INTERNET GEMSTONES 10/10': Created from 100 anonymous voices captured online.
HERBERT W FRANKE: Herbert W. Franke (born 14 May 1927 in Vienna) is an Austrian scientist and writer. Die Zeit calls him "the
most prominent German writing Science Fiction author". He is also one of the important early computer artists (and
collectors), creating computer graphics and early digital art since the late 1950s.
'UNKNOWN INTERNET GEMSTONES 10/10': Created from 100 anonymous voices captured online.
KLAUS SCHWEB: Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
FELIPE PANTONE: Contemporary artist and designer.
ABOUT REEPS100
Harry Yeff aka Reeps100 is a London born neuro-divergent artist and technologist specializing in voice and tech-based expression. Yeff has been visualizing the voice for 15 years and is globally celebrated as a leader in a new wave of voice technology focused experimentation. He continues to build on his world-class skillset utilizing an almost inhuman vocal range to drive his works. His performative installations and machine-like vocal control have amassed a global following, rendering over 100 million views online.
He produces work spanning disciplines, contexts and media in response to an ongoing investigation into the evolution of the human voice, art and science. His work closely examines the junction of visual and audio cultures, transforming vocal music into visible, physical form through performance, installation, sculpture, photography and film—as well as curatorial, directorial and academic projects.
Yeff harnesses innovative technologies to enhance his creative process and artistic expansion, as demonstrated in his work “Second Self” whereby Yeff’s expression augmented in response to his Second Self’s ability to create new vocal expression. In his latest work and meditation VOICE GEMS, Yeff not only preserves some of the most precious, extraordinary and critically endangered voices on earth, but envisions the future of connection and vocal expression at the center of emerging technologies.
Yeff is the executive curator of the A.I. Visionary Initiative for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), part of the United Nations agency for Information & Communication Technologies. His role as an ambassador for art, technology and voice is highlighted by a global lecture portfolio with notable talks on creativity, the arts and innovation at Google Exec, Davos, United Nations, SXSW, Art Basel Hong Kong, Harvard University, Glastonbury Pyramid Stage and most importantly his old primary school.
He has completed three artist residencies at Harvard University, is a culture leader at The World Economic Forum, and has followed in the footsteps of John Cage and Rauschenberg by joining the legendary Experiments in Art and Technology program at Bell Labs. His multidisciplinary new-media spectacles and theory have established artist in residence roles Factory Berlin and Sonar Barcelona. In 2020 Yeff won the Arts and Science Breakthrough with the Falling Walls Foundation for his ongoing portfolio of cutting edge voice and technology experimentation.
Yeff has exhibited internationally, from the Museum of Art and Design in New York to the Tate Britain in London, as well as Milan, London and Tokyo Design weeks, SXSW, Miami Art Basel, Davos 2020, United Nations Geneva and Sundance film festival. He appeared at the TED Countdown Summit in March 2022 and most recently at the TIME100 AI Impact Awards in February 2024.
