August 31 – December 21, 2024

SOS Color Code is an indoor and outdoor installation by Luftwerk, the Chicago-based artist team of Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero. Using the universal language of Morse code, SOS Color Code transforms the international signal of distress into a sign of solidarity and connectedness. 

Luftwerk collaborated with design studio Normal to create the outdoor component of the project that is comprised of three flags placed in front of the Museum. The indoor component pairs a painted mural with a display of changing colored lights. Dots and dashes of Morse code representing the letters S (three dots) O (three dashes) S (three dots) appear on the flags and in the mural creating a playful visual excursion while investigating color as a system of language and a marker of emotion. Visually, the SOS pattern is an effective distress signal, an ambigram that can be read upside down or right side up. 

SOS Color Code was scheduled to coincide with the 2024 presidential election and the International Day of Democracy. Celebrated around the world on September 15th each year, the International Day of Democracy was established through a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly in 2007, with the aim of encouraging governments to strengthen and consolidate democracy. 

Learn how to register to vote, vote early and by mail in all 50 states at vote.org.

Additional resources:
Students! Prepare to vote: Get your Marquette Voter ID card before registering
Wisconsinites! MyVote Wisconsin

Support for this exhibition is generously provided by the Lacey Sadoff Foundation. This exhibition is in partnership with Sculpture Milwaukee.