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 an immersive installation commissioned by the National Science and Media commissioned for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture.
Open: 3 Apr 2025 – 28 Feb 2026
Location: National Science and Media Museum
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
- The Ingredients of Life
- We Live In An Ocean Of Air
- A Breathing Planet
- Head In The Clouds
- Sunlight Under My Skin
- Tree of Life
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.
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