Introducing the theme, artist Valdek Laur installed four different instruments across Toome Hill, each of which plays four notes. Each note, in turn, represents one of DNA's four amino acids.

Each instrument comes with a short strain of music representing a combination of DNA, which is simple to play when following the colors given.

On top of the "gene instruments" physically located on Toome Hill, visitors can scan QR codes to give a listen to how digital synthesizers have interpreted the same genetic melodies as well.

The main sign about the installation is located near the towers of the ruins of Tartu Cathedral. The four instruments, meanwhile, can be found at four different spots across the hilltop: at the foot of Kissing Hill (Musumägi), near the statues of Kristjan Jaak Peterson and Karl Ernst von Baer, respectively, and next to Rotund Cafe.

Behind the project is Valdek Laur, an artist active in the fields of digital media and jewelry and metal art and who is interested in scientific communication and the visualization of complex concepts and data sets.

Laur was also joined by metal artist Fred Truus and musician Silver Sepp, with whom he collaborated to create these "gene music" instruments.

With this work of art, the artist demonstrates that life in all its lush abundance, comprehensiveness and diversity is beyond our comprehension.

"Which makes it all the stranger to recognize that all of this brilliance is built on various combinations of four chemical compounds," Laur highlighted.

"Small matches can bring about phenomena that shape the world," he continued. "And none of it needs the intervention of a bearded man up in the sky; it's a matter of constantly replaying simple rules."

The instruments in "Lifesaver" are all four-note instruments made from metal, the artist noted, "But nevertheless, they all sound different, just like life around us."

Cooperation with kids

According to art researcher and freelance curator Mary-Ann Talvistu, a member of the artist competition jury, Valdek Laur's scientific communication covers various approaches from popular science to science fiction.

"He has a clear interest in collaborating with geneticists to create a science-driven work of art for Toomemägi," Talvistu said according to a press release. "He also considered cooperation with young people important, who have been one of the sharpest focus groups in the creation of this work."

The playful installation is the result of a preliminary project last spring involving students from Tartu Kivilinna School, who visited the University of Tartu Estonian Biobank and University of Tartu Museum to gain new knowledge.

In cooperation with Laur, the students created fantasy projects bringing together science and art, which were exhibited in summer 2023 in the temporary exhibition hall at the university museum.

The "Lifesaver" installation is part of "Toomemägi Revisited," a broader project in Tartu 2024's main program as European Capital of Culture.

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