The urbanization and globalization of our lives have changed the way we look at and feel about spaces; landscaping and man's mastery of our environment has allowed us to shape it according to our will. The introduction of technology has furthered this ability to create and change the way we interact with the world around us; GPS, Foursquare, Google Maps and other social networking and electronic media heavily shape how we move through a space and interact with it. My goal is to create a project that brings out the connections between technological advances and our movement through landscapes, linking the two concepts to show how we move in our interactive, technological world.
The art project is to make a video on the invisible and non-audible electromagnetic radiation from all kinds of multimedia/electronic devices. Besides, from recording and analyzing the measured results I want to bring attention to how serious the electromagnetic pollution is in our life. The methodology involved in this project is heavily inspired by Drift (or derivé). According to Situationist Theorist Guy Debord, drift is “a mode of experimental behavior linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances”(Debord). Debord was obsessed with urban geography and the way we wander through it, either getting from point A to B or through aimless strolling, as well as how we characterize certain places; I believe that this project can help to bring out this level of participation we have with our environments.
For this project, the walk starts in Roberson Street and it is as well unplanned. Solely based on my instinct, I will observe the surrounding environment and walk towards where I predict it has a high level of radiation emission. It is easier to perform the electromagnetic measurements in some crowded residential area, and there was the recording of the statistical analysis for the electromagnetic sources that cause the pollution. I will record the walk and measure the radiation emits from the electric devices, which are invisible and non-audible. The meter was quite used to indicate the level. Fuzz TV visualizations will be added to incorporate with the noise from the meter when editing the video. The higher the radiation level of the multimedia or the electronic devices, the more the noise the device produces, the fuzzier the TV visualizations will be. This will have the effect of showing just how much our own electronic devices invade our experience, and whether or not that has a relationship with how we "drift" through the city. I was inspired by Manovich's " Augmented Space", which is there is the overlaying of the physical spaces with the dynamically changing information and the Drift, which can be defined as the way in which urban landscapes can direct tourists and those traveling through these augmented spaces, allowing a completely new experience to be found. Augmented spaces, according to Manovich, are spaces enhanced by the ability to access infinite, localized and mobile wireless information through whatever technology individuals have on hand. In the case of this project, the wireless information provided by mobile phones and the like will constitute the 'augmented space' explored by this project, and will be measured through the electromagnetic radiation I will be searching for.
Works Cited
Debord, Guy. "Definitions." Internationale Situationniste 1, June 1958. Trans. Ken Knabb.
Manovich, Lev. "The Poetics of Augmented Space." Visual Communication vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 219-240. 2005. Print.
