:: aetherspace ::

demonstration CUBE2 :: 5.27 :: 8-9p

documentation CUBE2 :: 5.19 - 6.4

website zeitkunst.org/projects/aetherspace/

From a certain point of view, our perception of the world is rather limited. While the richness of our experience is deep, varied, and unique from other living beings, there are definite physical limits to our natural abilities. For example, the human retina is limited to viewing electromagnetic (EM) radiation of wavelengths from only around 4*10-7m to 7.5*10-7m. Yet the entire spectrum reaches from tens of meters to angstroms and below. This leaves many orders of magnitudes unperceived; used, definitely, through various modern technologies, like cell phones, radio, and television, but experienced directly, no.

It may seem nonsensical to ask questions like: What does this radiation look like? What does it sound like? Yet these are the very questions the ætherspace project aims to address. In what ways can we explore these invisible waves? The ultimate effects of the waves influence our lives so, yet our visualization and visceral understanding lags way behind.

The book Design Noir [DunneRaby2001] introduces the concept of "hertzian space", the "dreams of electronic objects" that create a "new, invisible but physical environment". Our body does not have transducers for electromagnetic waves; instead, we have to use other objects, like mobiles and radios, to pick up the effects of these EM waves. Because of this, hertzian space has a special aura about it: it’s invisible, thus it’s not understandable.

With ætherspace I would like to make hertzian space audible, make the invisible sonic. Briefly, wearable transducers/antennae would pick up the various components of hertzian space as the user walked around in the city, home, or workplace. These components feed to a scaling algorithm that would bring the range of hertzian space to that of normal hearing. Finally, the results of the scaling algorithm would feed headphones on the user. The user would then have a sonic representation of the invisible æther.

about the artist

Nick Knouf is currently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the webmaster of zeitkunst.org.