Listening Space

Driven by our previous explorations in non-verbal communication systems, we set out to explore RF detection, while considering the human body as an interface for sensing the invisible universe that surrounds us. By investigating the energies that have been harvested by humanity to knit this complex layer, a turbulent sea of radio waves that penetrates the fabric of our everyday lives even if it remains unseen and unheard, we aim to create poetic connotations between the sonic qualities of data collection and archiving, and bodies as agents of power to re-interpret current technologies.

Specifically, the ecologies of transmission that comprise the Radio Spectrum, are no doubt the ultimate expression of the Anthropocene, as they permit the operation of human life as we know it (telecommunications, environmental monitoring, radio astronomy, FM/AM radio, etc) and shape our understanding of the planet.

In this context, Listening Space seeks to explore satellite transmissions as discrete embodied machines, by observing their liveness at a rhythm dictated by their orbit.

Through hands-on experimentation, we sought to intercept the NOAA weather satellites’ audiovisual transmissions using Software-Defined-Radio and hand-crafted antennas. This process aligned perfectly with the idea of citizen science that both of us are exploring in our work. The intercepted signals were then knitted into textiles that we named Satellite Ikats, as a means of physical archiving of the detection and decoding process. These knitted memory artifacts were created using a hacked domestic double bed knitting machine, and their imagery is comprised by fragments of the audio transmissions, based on gaps and counts. Textiles occupy a central place in Listening Space: we seek to enhance the human capability to sense and to embody the dialogues intercepted between earth and its satellites.