YOU:MATTER
Where do you end and begin? From the Big Bang… to right now. Through seven immersive and unique rooms, the exhibition inspires participants to experience how we are all connected to the natural world, and how everything in our universe can be traced back to the same cosmic explosion.
The journey begins with the Big Bang – it wasn’t just a one-time thing – it’s still banging, right at the heart of Bradford and coursing through us and our surroundings. YOU:MATTER is a spectacular immersive exhibition commissioned by the National Science and Media commissioned for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.
Visitors can take an unforgettable trip discovering their connection to the universe, exploring the web of relationships that bond people and the natural world together.
Open: 3 Apr 2025 – 28 Feb 2026
Location: National Science and Media Museum
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Visitors move through a cosmos of projected light, soundscapes, sculptural forms and interactive moments, witnessing how the building blocks of the universe live within us. From breathing life into a digital forest to seeing sunlight animate their skin, each installation invites audiences to reflect on their place in the vast web of existence.
The exhibition is told across a series of immersive, multi-sensory installations in seven immersive rooms — each offering a unique encounter with the forces that shape life
Ancestry In The Stars
From the Big Bang… to right now.
You are part of a vast wave of energy that began with the explosion that created our universe. Each living thing on Earth comes from the molten hearts of ancient stars. Hedgehogs, sharks, bats, oak trees, peacocks, fungi in their quadrillions — and you. Your lungs, your heart, your blood and brain are all made of star-stuff.
The Ingredients of Life
In a corridor filled with raw materials — rocks, dust and liquid — your elements are laid out, annotated and scaled to your body.
Here is what you are made of: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen… and trace elements, important but hidden.
“You are a miracle of cosmic proportions.” – Michelle Thaller
We Live In An Ocean Of Air
Breathe into the sensor and see your exhalation drift into the central Sequoia tree that represents the billions of plants that will enjoy the carbon dioxide you make in your life.
“Breathing involves … offering ourselves to the world at one moment and drawing the world into ourselves at the next.” – David Abram
A Breathing Planet
A circular screen shows the day/night cycle of carbon dioxide — pulsing in a rhythmic fashion, reminiscent of a breathing, beating Earth. Using satellite data, we see our planet breathing oxygen and carbon dioxide, in and out.
Head In The Clouds
Two large playful cloud sculptures invite you to put your head inside and dive deeper. Inside, you hear a soft-spoken voice take you on a journey through the water cycle — from cloud to rain, from tea to sweat, from human to sky.
“Yesterday the tea was a cloud up in the sky but today it has become the tea in my glass.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh
Sunlight Under My Skin
Place your hand under the light and see — projectors reveal the blood vessels beneath your skin. The radiance of our sun courses through you. Every meal you consume is made of sunlight spun into glucose by plants.
Tree of Life
Position your face in the light to join the Tree of Life. Your likeness is captured and seamlessly integrated into a dynamic, morphing display of biodiversity.
From the stars above to each living cell, the technologies behind this extraordinary experience make the invisible visible. The installation playfully shows how each ingredient of life, large or small, is constructed from the same basic building blocks as our universe.
As their journey unfolds, visitors see how the human body is inextricably linked to water, air and sunlight through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. The visit ends with a phylogenetic tree, standing as ‘end credits’ of the universe, tracing the multitudes of species that have graced the Earth.
From the stars above to each living cell, the technologies behind this extraordinary experience make the invisible visible. The installation playfully shows how each ingredient of life, large or small, is constructed from the same basic building blocks as our universe.
Come and learn what you’re made of.
Directed by Marshmallow Laser Feast
Robin McNicholas, Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin
Executive Producers: Carolina Vallejo, Eleanor (Nell) Whitley, Mike Jones
Voiced by Verity Henry
Experience Interpretation Text & VO Script by Seth Bockley, Shayla Love
Exhibition Design & Art Direction: Ece Tankal
Technical Director Artists & Engineers: Ltd; who Louis Mustill
Sound Design & Spatialisation: Carolyn Downing
Production Design: DON Design Studio Ltd
Lighting Design: Sarah Readman
Producers:
Martin Jowers
Roxie Oliveira
Anya Tye
Emma Hamilton
Theresa Macaulay
Technical Providers: Solotech UK Group Ltd
Technical VFX Artists: Lewis Saunders, Nicolas Le Dren
Tree of Life Lead Developer: Adam Child
We Live in an Ocean of Air Lead Developer: Chris Plant
We Live in an Ocean of Air Sensor Developer: PlayfulBits Ltd; Berkay Daver
Exhibition Construction & Installation: Hadley Interiors Ltd
Wall Painting: Bagnall & Sons Ltd
Graphics Installation: Trafford Signs
Head in the Clouds Rigging: Unusual Rigging Ltd
Scenic Painter: Emma Gazzard
Carpenter: Stuart Manning
Exhibition & Interpretation Manager: Rowena Hamilton
Voiceover Editor: David Holmes
Technical Development: Andrew Robinson
Tools & Infrastructure Engineer: Maria Astakhova
R&D AI Generation: Nilor Corp; Lucas Moskun, Sebastian Monroy
Scientific Advisors: Alejandro Feged, Lewis Dartnell, Steve Swaby
Concept Development & Graphic Designer: Amy Johnson
Marketing Graphic Designer: I J Miller
Production Assistant: Alex McRobbie