[NetBehaviour] INVISIBLE FIELDS,GEOGRAPHIES OF RADIO WAVES

[info]

INVISIBLE FIELDS
GEOGRAPHIES OF RADIO WAVES

14 OCTOBER 2011 - 4 MARCH 2012
BARCELONA

Invisible Fields is a major new international exhibition at Arts Santa 
Mònica in Barcelona Spain, co-produced by Lighthouse. It brings together 
over a dozen internationally known artists, designers and scientists to 
explore the radio spectrum - the invisible environment that underpins 
contemporary technology. Co-curated by José Luis de Vicente and Honor 
Harger, the show includes significant works by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, 
Trevor Paglen, Timo Arnall, Joyce Hinterding and many more.
The show is presented in the Laboratory space of Arts Santa Mònica 
<http://www.artssantamonica.cat/> directed by Josep Perelló.

Invisible Fields explores how our understanding of our world and our 
cosmos has been transformed by the study of radio waves. With the 
invention of telecommunication technology at the end of the 19th 
century, the radio spectrum became a tool for rethinking the world we 
live in. Radio collapsed geographical distance, crossed borders and 
cultures, became a powerful catalyst for commerce and enabled scientists 
to study the cosmos in entirely new ways. Yet whilst the radio spectrum 
is the invisible infrastructure that enables the technologies of 
information and communication, most people are unaware of the way it 
works, how it is managed, and how it is has shaped our understanding of 
our lived environment.
Invisible Fields aims to shine a light on this enigmatic landscape.
The exhibition differs from past explorations of these topics, in that 
it is conceived as an interdisciplinary blend of social-cultural 
analysis, science communication, and artistic practice.

ARTISTS IN THE SHOW

Timo Arnall (BERG), Thomas Ashcraft, Matthew Biederman, Anthony 
DeVincenzi (MIT Media Lab), Diego Diaz and Clara Boj, Joyce Hinterding, 
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Trevor Paglen, Job Ramos, Semiconductor, Luthiers 
Drapaires, and Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits (RIXC).

WORKS IN THE SHOW

20Hz (new commission) by Semiconductor
Drone Vision by Trevor Paglen
Frequency & Volume by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer
Harnessing Wild Electricities from Outer Space by Thomas Ashcraft
Immaterials by Timo Arnall
Invisible Forces by Anthony DeVincenzi
Loops and Fields: Induction Drawings Series 4 by Joyce Hinterding
Magnetic Movie by Semiconductor
Observatorio by Clara Boj and Diego Diaz
Office of Spectral Ecology by Matthew Biederman
Skrunda Signal by Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits (RIXC)
The Conet Project by Irdial Records
New commission by Job Ramos

Plus a community Wifi workshop and information space by Guifi.net; a 
satellite observation workshop and ground-station by Plataforma Cero 
LABoral; an antenna-building workshop and antenna collection by Luthiers 
Drapaires; and a micro-FM building workshop by Arts Santa Monica.
The exhibition design, by Run Design, includes an operational Faraday 
Cage, a visual spatialisation of the electromagnetic chart and a visual 
timeline of spectrum utopias.

MORE ABOUT THE SHOW

More than a linear, historical narration of the evolution of spectrum 
technologies, Invisible Fields can best be understood as an 
"observatory", which enables visitors to perceive the radio spectrum. It 
sets out the spectrum as a physical space, invisible but present, a 
terrain that can be studied, mapped, surveyed and explored. It is an 
environment made of signals and waves from nature, and from us. Its 
topography is formed of waves of different scales, from tiny emissions 
given off by domestic objects to vast emissions made by distant 
astronomical phenomena. It's made up of signals that are very familiar, 
such as television and radio, and signals which are esoteric and 
enigmatic. It is an ecology that has public spaces - wireless internet 
and amateur radio - and secret spaces - coded military transmissions and 
clandestine signals.
Following on from pioneers such as John Cage, Alvin Lucier and Pauline 
Oliveros, contemporary artists such as Thomas Ashcraft, Semiconductor 
and Joyce Hinterding create powerful works that allow us to understand 
the radio spectrum as an extension of the natural world.

Sitting alongside their almost Emersonian understanding of radio as 
nature, is recent work in the field of architecture, design and 
urbanism, which expands the notion of urban space into the invisible 
realm of the spectrum. "Hertzian space", a term coined by designers, 
Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby, is defined by our transmissions of radio, 
television, wireless internet, GPS data and mobile phone signals. It is 
a space interrogated by artists and designers such as Timo Arnall from 
the BERG group in London, and Clara Boj and Diego Diaz who create clever 
visualisations of the presence of waves in our daily life.

Elsewhere in the show, artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's monumental tribute 
to the radio dial, enables us to physically move through radio 
transmissions, giving us a visceral encounter with our ethereal cultural 
surroundings. And experimental geographer and artist, Trevor Paglen and 
artist-activists, RIXC, shed light on the dark zones of the spectral 
landscape.

Invisible Fields is not only concerned with the topology of the radio 
landscape, but rather the socio-political activities that take place 
within it. Alongside the artworks in the show are operational workshops, 
which remind us that our position with the architecture of the spectrum 
is far from being that of a passive observer. As such, the exhibition 
space hosts intensive activity for a wide variety of audiences, with 
workshops on Sunday mornings, and a complete education programme offered 
to schools.
Taken together the works in Invisible Fields make the intangible 
materiality of the electromagnetic spectrum visible and audible. They 
open up the Hertzian space around us, and above us, to our senses. The 
visions of artists, the solutions of designers, and the experiments of 
scientists give us the tools we need to create our own mental maps of 
this profoundly influential terrain.

A catalogue in Spanish, Catalan and English editions is being published 
and will be available in November. It features essays by Douglas Kahn, 
Adam Greenfield, Martin Howse, Josep Perelló and others.

DATE/ TIME / VENUE

Dates: 14 October 2011 - 4 March 2012
Times: 1100 - 2100, Tuesday - Sunday
Venue: Arts Santa Mónica
La Rambla, 7
Barcelona, Spain

CREDITS

Organized by Arts Santa Mònica
Produced by Arts Santa Mònica, in association with Lighthouse.
Curated by: José Luis de Vicente and Honor Harger
Assisted by: Irma Vilà

In conjunction with:
British Council, Bureau du Quebec, Barcelone | Conseil des Arts et des 
Lettres du Quebec
Laboral Centro de Arte y Creación, Gijon, Bòlit, Centre d'Art 
Contemporani, Girona.

We acknowledge the support of: Proyecto PARTNeR Centro de Astrobiología 
(INTA-CSIC), Departament d'Astronomia I Meteorologia-Universitat de 
Barcelona, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria de Telecomunicació de 
Barcelona-Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

CONTACT

Lighthouse
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk

Address: 28 Kensington Street, Brighton, BN1 4AJ, UK
Tel: +44 1273 647197
email: info at lighthouse.org.uk
Find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LighthouseArts