Conserving Flat Bells (2023)

In 2024, I prepared and delivered a conservation proposal for Flat Bells (2023) by Portuguese artist Alexandre Estrela for MoMA. Commissioned and acquired by the museum, the work features five-channel computer-generated video, eight-channel audio, and four engraved aluminium plates.

Serving both as projection surfaces and as acoustic instruments, the four suspended aluminium plates — or ‘bells’ — emit shimmering imagery generated by an algorithmic system created by the artist and his team. The work’s imagery unfolds along an immersive, meditative soundscape that seems to emanate from each plate as if it were a gong or bell, underscoring Estrela’s ongoing experimentation with materials and perception.

Together with an artist interview, the five-month study resulted in a detailed conservation proposal focused on the software behind the work’s algorithmic system — Max.

A big thank you to Peter Oleksik, Kimberly Tarr, Amy Brost, and MoMA for the wonderful opportunity.