008 Progress Filter Decay  

The movements of live Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, a species that hasn't evolved significantly in 400 million years, modify 6 archival pieces of audio that speak to different ideas of progress from the human perspective. Volume and white noise level of each sound channel is determined by the position and speed of the roaches inside a clear vitrine. Thomas Edison speaks about the march of technology in his speech "Electricity and Progress". Astrophysicist Neil Degrasse-Tyson recounts historical examples of how religious thought has impeded the progress of scientific knowledge. John Cage questions the need for progress in his "Lecture on Nothing". Author Steven Johnson exposes London's 1854 cholera epidemic as a key moment in medical advancement and urban living. George W. Bush describes successful and unsuccessful points of progress in Iraq. And, the Travel Channel's Samantha Brown tours the exotic and virgin lands of Latin America.

Click here to view documentation clip.

-posted Thursday May 8, 2008-

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