Spectrumscape: The Space of Wirelessness

Abstract

The radio signals transmitted by wireless technologies create a form of space that is pervasive but intangible to human senses. The multiplicity of radio waves is most commonly represented through the trope of ‘radio spectrum’, but this paper argues that this construct is too limited to communicate the extensive presence of radio waves in the environment, their relationship with human subjectivity, and the technical, economic, political and cultural dimensions of wireless transmission and reception. The space of wirelessness is conceptualised in this paper as a ‘spectrumscape’, a dynamic presence in the environment that is also a dimension of global flows, imbued with relationships of power and financial interests.

An Overview of Spatialised Broadcasting Experiments with a Focus on Radio Art Practices

“…Zita Joyce has argued that ‘[t]he presence of radio waves in a landscape could be described in a similar manner to the presence of sound, framed by R. Murray Schafer as a “soundscape” (1994), … ever-present but [as] invisible as the soundscape’ (Joyce 2007: 83–93). This ‘spectrumscape’ contains all radio frequencies including extremely low frequencies (ELF, 3–30 Hz, directly audible when converted to sound [above ∼20Hz], and used for submarine communication) to extremely high frequencies (EHF, 30–300GHz, microwave data links, radio astronomy, amateur radio, remote sensing, advanced weapons systems, advanced security scanning).…”

“…This ‘spectrumscape’ contains all radio frequencies including extremely low frequencies (ELF, 3–30 Hz, directly audible when converted to sound [above ∼20Hz], and used for submarine communication) to extremely high frequencies (EHF, 30–300GHz, microwave data links, radio astronomy, amateur radio, remote sensing, advanced weapons systems, advanced security scanning). Joyce considers that the ‘concept of radio coverage suggests an idea of spatiality, an area in which particular waves may be received, the presence of a signal’ (Joyce 2007: 84).…”