What does innovation sound like? For a century, typewriters chattered an evolving story
A collaboration between the Spanish artist Ignacio Uriarte and the US sound-effects artist Michael Winslow, best known for his roles in the Police Academy film franchise (1984-1994), History of the Typewriter as Recited by Michael Winslow traces 88 years of typewriter sounds, from 1895 to 1983, when the personal computer began rendering the world-changing machines obsolete. Beyond showcasing Winslow’s incredible capacity for impeccable vocal imitation, Uriarte’s film is a time capsule of forgotten, once ubiquitous sounds, and a uniquely creative exploration of the arcana of technological change.
Director: Ignacio Uriarte
videoHistory
The dry-stacked stones of Zimbabwe are a medieval engineering wonder
7 minutes
videoTechnology and the self
Inside a tattoo parlour where hateful images are covered for free
11 minutes
videoWar and peace
The extraordinary craft and fascinating symbolism of a pre-Incan ceremonial shield
3 minutes
videoWork
Like a cheery Sisyphus, Fred dismantles an industrial chimney one brick at a time
12 minutes
videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes
videoEngineering
How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time
10 minutes
videoEnvironmental history
In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests
13 minutes
videoSocial psychology
What happened when a crypto scam swept over a sleepy town in the Caucasus
18 minutes
videoArchitecture
A 3D rendering of the Colosseum captures its architectural genius and symbolic power
17 minutes