Babel is a large-scale sound installation by Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles, composed of hundreds of analogue radios stacked in a towering cylindrical structure inside a blue-lit room. Each radio is tuned to a different station, filling the space with a chaotic mix of voices, music, and static. The constant overlap of sounds creates an overwhelming yet captivating environment that reflects on the human desire to communicate and the confusion that arises when too many voices compete to be heard.

As a resource, Babel offers a powerful exploration of media, sound, and collective experience. It transforms the radio, a familiar everyday object, into a metaphor for global connection and miscommunication. The work resonates with ideas of information overload, shared listening, and the legacy of analogue media in the digital age.

Source: https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/media-networks/cildo-meireles