Beyond Words
Responding to the power and impact of famous, emotive speeches, Sykes attempts to disrupt linear time and re-imagine these influential speeches as visual experiences. The process starts with the appropriation of recordings of Winston Churchill, Hillary Clinton, Adolf Hitler, John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Using a precious metal called Gallium, which transforms from a solid to a liquid state at approximately human body temperature, Sykes takes multiple images of this liquid metal as it reacts with the sound waves of various speeches generated by a conventional loudspeaker. The resulting photographs are then sequenced, mapped and processed using high resolution 3D modelling software – a technique known as ‘photogrammetry’ – in order to produce images that condense and encapsulate entire orations into a singular visual landscape. With the increasing use of data visualisation and digital imaging this pseudoscientific investigation attempts to challenge the boundaries of what photography can be.
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/510ee2ec-4a69-46e7-8772-ed937d8bc93e/0/0/0/0,0,900,900,1600,900/0-0-0/de41e72d-b3ed-4344-a32e-a598fd97603e/1/1/john-kennedy.gif?fjkss=exp=2037609553~hmac=e2b33f66c4d6be2af9a67dfaa01b642e9a19e8523b27bb4aa2c3f19eac47fe4b)
John F Kennedy: We Choose To Go To The Moon, September 12th, 1962, Rice Football stadium, Houston, Texas
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/510ee2ec-4a69-46e7-8772-ed937d8bc93e/0/0/0/0,0,700,700,1600,700/0-0-0/0f62d56a-bf5d-4632-9e27-6ef3ba7471c1/1/1/winston-churchill.gif?fjkss=exp=2037609553~hmac=d9b5a3d9c2c197264bc87808224c54cca4bc3ddf2a822d1a45a46d9473638bc4)
Winston Churchill: We Shall Fight Them On The Beaches, June 4th, 1940, London, UK
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/510ee2ec-4a69-46e7-8772-ed937d8bc93e/0/0/0/0,0,700,700,1600,700/0-0-0/32327bb0-ecbd-4f71-8d40-4756465909ff/1/1/martin-luther-king.gif?fjkss=exp=2037609553~hmac=d9b5a3d9c2c197264bc87808224c54cca4bc3ddf2a822d1a45a46d9473638bc4)
Martin Luther King Jr: I Have A Dream, August 28th, 1963, March on Washington, Washington DC, USA
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/510ee2ec-4a69-46e7-8772-ed937d8bc93e/0/0/0/0,0,700,700,1600,700/0-0-0/acaa718f-41c3-43d7-b428-cffa9929472f/1/1/adolf-hitler.gif?fjkss=exp=2037609553~hmac=d9b5a3d9c2c197264bc87808224c54cca4bc3ddf2a822d1a45a46d9473638bc4)
Adolf Hitler: First Speech As Chancellor Of Germany, February 10th 1933, Berlin
![](https://format.creatorcdn.com/510ee2ec-4a69-46e7-8772-ed937d8bc93e/0/0/0/0,0,900,900,1600,900/0-0-0/8bacc8e3-b88a-43aa-8c83-55fb1528f85e/1/1/hillary-clinton.gif?fjkss=exp=2037609553~hmac=e2b33f66c4d6be2af9a67dfaa01b642e9a19e8523b27bb4aa2c3f19eac47fe4b)
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton: Human Rights Are Women’s Rights, September 5th, 1995, Beijing, China