Humpback Whales / Templeton World Charity Foundation

Written By Charles Lindsay

Wonderful News. Dr. Laurance Doyle is the scientist I worked with on what became the first SETI AIR program artist / scientist relationship and subsequent installation: 'CODE HUMPBACK.’ Laurance, Fred Sharpe, and the team they are collaborating with recently received a Templeton World Charity Foundation grant to research the Humpback communications further, with an eye / ear toward communicating with ET. I’m hoping to be in Alaska with them next year during the research. Congratulations Laurance and Fred and lovers of all non-human intelligence.

The installation ‘Code Humpback’ debuted at the Bolinas Museum and is shown here (minute 1:30 - 2:10) in the FIELD STATION at MassMoCA : https://vimeo.com/201955953  

Charles Lindsay

Charles Lindsay is an intermedia artist whose work explores the frontiers of technology, storytelling, and the cosmos. A Guggenheim Fellow, New York Times bestselling author, and founder of the SETI Institute’s Artist in Residence program (SETI AIR), Lindsay creates immersive installations that fuse salvaged aerospace components, AI-generated visuals, and biomorphic soundscapes into powerful vehicles for reimagining narrative. His projects ask provocative questions—what if an AI could dream? What if a Mars rover became a Zen monk?

Lindsay has collaborated with NASA Ames, Bell Labs, and exhibited globally, including at the MIT Media Lab. At SETI, he explored conceptual links between whale communication, Morse code, and AI pattern recognition. A dream in Kyoto—of a parking meter selling time and space in a Zen garden—became a realized installation, blending ancient philosophy with digital inquiry.

As an early alpha tester for OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video platform and a lifelong lucid dreamer, Lindsay pushes the limits of how AI can amplify human consciousness. His installations function as sensory laboratories, inviting audiences to navigate the terrain between digital revelation, aesthetic curiosity, and the collective unconscious. With humor, paradox, and deep curiosity, Lindsay’s work imagines new frontiers for art, science, and the soul.

https://www.charleslindsay.com
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