Null By Morse: Historical Optical Communication to Smartphones

 

Author(s):


Exhibition:


Category:


Abstract/Summary/Introduction:

  • Null By Morse is an installation artwork that incorporates a military signaling lamp and smartphones. A series of Morse messages is transmitted automatically by the signal lamp. The messages are drawn from the history of Morse and telegraphy. A custom app for iPhone and Android uses the phone’s camera to identify the changing light levels of the lamp and the associated timings. The app then decodes the Morse and displays the message on the screen on top of the camera image. This paper discusses the artwork in relation to the following theoretical aspects: It contextualizes the position of smartphones in the history of optical communication. It proposes an approach to smartphones in media art that moves away from futurist perspectives whose fundamental approach is to seek to creatively exploit the latest features. Lastly, it discusses the interaction with the phone in the exhibition context in terms of slow technology.

References:

  • 1. Kittler, Friedrich, Discourse Networks I800II900 (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Univ Press, 1992).

    2. Kusahara, Machiko, “The ‘Baby Talkie,’ Domestic Media and the Japanese Modern,” Media Archaeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications, ed. Erkki Huhtamo and Jussi Parikka (Berkeley, CA: Univ of California Press, 20n) 123-147.

    3. Huhtamo, Erkki, “Elements of Screenology <wroo1.wrocenter.pl/erkki/html/erkki_en.htmb, accessed IO March, 2013.

    4. Zielinski, Siegfried, Deep Time of the Media: Toward an Archaeology of Hearing and Seeing by Technical Means (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006).

    5. Standage, Tom, The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers (London: Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, 1998).

    6. Hobza, Klara, “Morse Code Communication,”<klarahobza.com/work/morse_code/>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    7. Koh, Germaine, “Relay,” <www.germainekoh.com/ma/projects_detail.
    cfm?pg=projects&projectID=2l>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    8. Ibid.

    9. Evening Chronicle, “Faint Hearted Art or a Flash of Genius?” <www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-eastnews/evening-chronicle-news/2005/07/14/faint-hearted-art-or-a-flash-of-genius-72703-15736001/>, accessed 19 January 2013.

    10. Schmeiduch, Markus et al., “#CPHsignals,” <ciid.dk/education/portfolio/idpn/courses/systems-layers/projects/cphsignals/>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    11. Schmeiduch, Markus, et al., “#CPHsignals,” <ciid.dk/education/portfolio/idpn/courses/systemslayers/projects/cphsignals/>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    I2. Arduino, <www.arduino.cc>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    13. Standage, Tom, The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers (London: Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, 1998).

    14. Gere, Charlie, Art, Time and Technology (New York: Berg, 2006).

    15. Kittler, Friedrich, Discourse Networks I800II900 (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford Univ Press, 1992).

    16. National Association for Amateur Radio, “Learning Morse Code,” <www.arrl.org/learning-morsecode>, accessed 19 January 2013.

    17. Standage, Tom, The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers (London: Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, 1998).

    18. Ibid.

    19. “Eye Witness, American Originals from the National Archives,” <www.archives.gov/exhibics/eyewicness/flash.php>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    20. Burnham, Jack, “Arc and Technology: The Panacea That Failed,” Video Culture: A Critical Investigation, ed. John G. Hanhardt (Lay ton, UT: Peregrine Smith Books, 1986) 232-248.

    21. Wolff, Michael, “Apple’s Roe Scares with its Samsung Lawsuit Win,” <www.guardian.co.uk/commencisfreeho12/augh8/apple-roc-scarcs-wich-samsung-lawsuic-win>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    22. Siegler, MG, “le Just Works,” <http://cechcrunch.comhou/06/08/apple-icloud-google-cloud/>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    23. Burnham, Jack, “Arc and Technology: The Panacea That Failed,” Video Culture: A Critical Investigation, ed. John G. Hanhardt (Lay ton, UT: Peregrine Smith Books, 1986) 232-248.

    24. Ibid.

    25, Murata, Takeshi, <www.cakeshimuraca.com>, accessed 19 January, 2013.

    26. Menkman, Rosa, ” Glitch Studies Manifesto,” <www.haraldpecerscrom.com/concenc/5.pdfs/Rosa%20Menkman%20-%20Glitch%20Studies%20Manifesto%2orewrite%2ofor%20Video%20Vorcex%202%20reader.pdf>, accessed 19 January 2013.

    27. Hallnas, Lars and Johan Redscri:im, ” Slow Technology-Designing for Reflection,” Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Vol. 5, No. 3 (2001) 201-212.

    28. Ibid.

    29. Verbeek, Peter-Paul and Petran Kockelkoren, “The Things That Matter,” Design Issues, Vol. 14, No. 3, 28-42 (Autumn, 1998).

Keywords: