Memories of the Melted
Thijs Biersteker
Memories of the Melted' is a two‑part artwork that turns the disappearing Rhône Glacier into living memory. At its core stands a clear ice‑like slab suspended above a basin. Onto this surface a real‑time generative model of the glacier is projected. Visitors glide a hand to travel through time—from the 1890s blue bulk to the ghosted outline forecast for 2100. Raising or lowering the same hand changes temperature, and the slab audibly weeps faster as degrees climb, every drip paced to measured loss. Commissioned by the Villars Institute for the 2025 International Year of Glaciers, the work debuted just metres from the Rhône itself. Glaciologists Matthias Huss and Heidi Sevestre fed the model with glacier‑inventory records, elevation maps and IPCC SSP pathways to visualise three futures: fossil‑fuel, business‑as‑usual and sustainable. Its second life unfolds on stage: violinist SongHa Choi performs Bach fragments re‑harmonised for glacier futures. Live audio analysis maps her vibrato, pitch and rhythm to melt‑rate variables; each note nudges the water, stalls it or accelerates the flow. When she bows the fossil‑fuel passage the ice surface darkens and the projections vanish; in the sustainable reprise a faint frost returns. The duet of code and strings fuses fact and emotion, proving that collective choices—like individual notes—decide whether glaciers endure or vanish. Audiences leave with cold droplets on their fingertips and a renewed resolve to preserve the planet’s memory.
Project Collaborators:
Commissioned by Villars Institute Artist Thijs Biersteker Violinist SongHa Choi Glacier Scientists Heidi Sevestre, Matthias Huss Generative modeling Denisa Půbalová Sustainable Production Woven Studio Studio Director Sophie de Krom Technical lead Tomáš Potůček Audio Engineer Rahsaan Bleijs Video editor Evelyne Adeyinka Special thanks to The Robert Dunand Prize, The Villars Institute, The Villars Music Academy, Montreux Jazz Festival. With special thanks to Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Lee Howell, Joëlle Chevalley, Roman Guggisberg, Mathieu Jaton, Andrea Bandelli, Emma Benameur, Tomáš Potůček, Chiara Brouwer, Cobi Berculo, Daan van der Sman, Kenyan Mayet and all involved.
