Harry Yeff from England and Trung Bao Nguyen from Vietnam, two internationally renowned artists, experiment with the human voice and test its limits. The two are well-known from the beatbox scene. Since 2012, they and their team have been dedicated to the digital visualization of the voice and founded the company Voice Gems to transform the voices of contemporary personalities into digital and physical gems. Well-known personalities such as the behavioural scientist Jane Goodall, the artist Ai Weiwei and the former football player Geoff Hurst took part. Overall, the participants come from a wide range of professions. Some private customers have also received a voice gem on request, for example from the voice of a relative.

The idea that the voice has an inestimable value, but plays only a fleeting role in our society, inspired the company to transform it into gemstones with symbolic and historical relevance. According to Yeff, the evaluation of a one-minute voice recording takes two days and involves a great deal of effort.

The goal of the artists is to create a gallery of voices that will be a legacy for thousands of years thanks to technical progress. An interview with co-founder Harry Yeff provides interesting insights into what's behind the idea. "Voice Gems has a special focus on the world's most remarkable, unique and vulnerable voices," explains Yeff. Around 200,000 particles are formed and stained for a voice gem based on the data found in the voice, such as voice resonance.

Gemstones for children are brighter

"A slow and calm voice will become a more traditional gemstone structure, a more excitable voice will pull the particles apart, it creates a more dynamic shape," explains Yeff. Gemstones for children are usually brighter. And deeper resonances resulted in bluish blacks and deep purple tones. Since each voice is unique, each one also results in its own gemstone. An audio always results in the same gem, even if you evaluate it several times.

In 2018, they received their first request: to create an engagement ring and work out a physical version. The Voice Gem that replaced the gemstone in the ring was the product of the shared laughter between two lovers. "Since then, we've received hundreds of messages from people who have lost loved ones and are interested in new forms of bequest through artwork," says Yeff. "We received conversations with mothers, brothers, sisters, grandparents who have passed away, and from this data we created these works of art that can be preserved."

Once the voice has been processed into a structure in a computer program, it can be printed in a 3D printer, in precious metals such as gold, silver or platinum, and in renewable materials. In cooperation with a laboratory in Newcastle, England, a new process has also been developed: the 3D printer produces tissue from the voice. This is placed in a tank; crystalline forms grow on it using aluminum minerals.

$5000 for a digital and physical gem

According to Yeff, 120 Voice Gems will have been created by the end of January, and 2024 by the end of 500. Last year, they turned over a good 200,000 dollars by releasing 50 Voice Gems. For the most part, these were direct sales to customers in various currency forms.

Selected private customers paid $5000,<> for a high-resolution digital version and the accompanying physical sculpture, Yeff reports. The chance of getting a voice gem is not very big, because only selected people can participate in the project. Anyone who receives one is "deeply fascinated" by it, says Yeff. Based on the stories sent by potential customers, they choose very carefully who gets access to the voice gem system, the artist says. After all, digital objects could be produced in infinite quantities. "But that would prevent them from being perceived as precious."

In the fall of 2022, a large-scale exhibition took place on London's Oxford Street on W1 Curates, a public art platform. 7000 people had watched the Voice Gems in the exhibition building. And around 10 million people walked past the works of art exhibited on two floors by window projections, Yeff reports. The Voice Gems can also be seen in TED Talks on Youtube that have been clicked millions of times. Magazines such as "Fast Company" and the international artist agency Sozo Artists have reported on her website. They could be seen in museums such as the Francisco Carolinum in Linz and the König Galerie in Berlin.

Marketing as NFT artworks

The Voice Gems will also be digitally marketed as NFT artworks using the blockchain. The digital gemstone version of a voice can be resold to art collectors through online markets. According to the company, it generated more than $2021,100 in revenue in 000 through digital voice gems and the blockchain alone.

Blockchain technology is an exciting new way to preserve works of art, Yeff says. And she made sure that artists received their royalties. But despite the opportunities offered by digital markets, it is important not to simply define voice gems as digital goods. The digital market should not be relied upon, and it should not come before the actual art. "Quality, philosophy and thinking should always come first," says Yeff.

The article comes from the student project "Youth and Economy", which the F.A.Z. organizes together with the Association of German Banks.