Mineral Amnesia explores the evolution and decay of early erasable programmable memory through sound. Encapsulated under quartz windows, EPROMs, now obsolete microchips, lose data when exposed to light. In this installation, 8K-bit to 1 Mbit EPROMs replay recorded sound under UV light until it disappears. Some EPROMs from the ’70s transform programs into sounds, and some disclose voice tales. Invented in 1971, EPROMs marked a turning point in computing history. Their widespread use fueled rapid technological growth but also led to data becoming lost in old hardware bodies, now dumped to form toxic wastelands across the earth’s geological layer. The work questions digital permanence and highlights the fragility of memory as loops dissolve into noise and silence. The audience experiences this acoustic erosion live—as memory fades and machines forget.
Prix Ars Electronica 2025
Award of Distinction – Digital Musics & Sound Art
