Train stations are full of numbers and number systems. We listen out for train platforms, departure times. We scan the boards. We dial numbers on mobile phones. We buy tickets and check times. This piece intervenes by adding an extra, superfluous set of numbers to the station context. A female voice announces a very large number and starts counting down. The first number is very very large. It takes a long time even to say that number. Regular station visitors begin to listen out for the voice and hear what number it’s at. It eventually gets down to zero.
Software that Starts with a Very Large Number and Counts Down to a Very Small Number
Audio installation
Installed at Sheffield train station for six weeks during 2001 as part of the group exhibition Everything is Number at the Site Gallery. Originally commissioned by Gregor Muir at Lux