Three Tales, Imax Cinema, Science Museum, London

The events depicted in Three Tales, Steve Reich and Beryl Korot's 2002 "video opera" about science and technology in the 20th century, seem like odd choices; aren't there more scientifically momentous episodes in history than the Hindenburg disaster, the testing of atomic bombs on the Bikini atoll, and the cloning of Dolly the sheep? And yet, in this absorbing event, featuring musicians from Ensemble BPM and the singers of Synergy Vocals performing Reich's score meticulously in sync with video artist Korot's fractured images on the Science Museum's Imax screen, it became clear what the pair are getting at: hubris. Three Tales is not exactly a warning, but Reich's anxious, sometimes dread-filled music and Korot's hypnotic images certainly add up to a great big question mark. Clearly the creators of Three Tales are not anti-technology; the work itself uses digital sampling and image manipulation techniques that would have been impossible 20-odd years ago. But this is a work about an uneasy relationship between humanity and science.

This performance, the first of two, began in fact with a technical glitch, as the singers were inaudible for a short while. But once that had been fixed, Reich's pulsing score, with its vaguely militaristic twin snare drums, twin pianos, rippling vibraphones, slashing strings and spooky voices, began to cast its spell. Meanwhile, images of the Hindenburg - being constructed, flying, flaming - followed a similar pattern: repeating, adding new elements, repeating. The hum from the airship's engines added a sense of foreboding. Radio commentary was slowed down, dragged and stretched; snippets of text flashed up.

The second section, "Bikini", was distressing. Reich's music was here less rhythmic, more haunting. Korot's blotchy treatment of footage of Pacific islanders preparing to leave their homes gave them a Gauguin-esque quality, while animals - goats, pigs, sheep - being caged before the bomb-test looked pitiful. An attenuated countdown added to the tension.

"Dolly", the closing segment, was visually less impressive - being mostly talking heads - but it did raise a chuckle when an evangelical-looking Richard Dawkins was digitally "cloned" into a series of silhouettes, while his statement that humans are "machines" was chopped up and looped like something from a hip-hop track.

There are doubtless books and documentary films that tackle humanity's relationship with science in greater depth. But Three Tales, with its absorbing synthesis of music, sound and image, adds an emotional, almost mystical flavour to this complex narrative.

Photograph: Gillean Denny

sciencemuseum.org.uk

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