Signal Archive by Salvador Orara
All of these signals were recorded from devices in 2011 or earlier; and the connected to the networks in and around E. Glenarm and S. Arroyo Pkwy in Pasadena, CA.
The Signal Archive was presented at Beta Level in 2012. And exhibited at the CICA Museum in Seoul, South Korea in 2019.
About the Signal Archive
The Signal Archive frames the development and history of Morse Code as a point of reference. A point in time when our modes of communication were at the early stages of mediation. The electrical telegraph, the mediator of that time, was a device to communicate the spoken word through a codified system of dots and dashes. The electrical telegraph and its intrinsic physical properties and technology, coupled with this codified system of writing, quickly became a sound object as it became evident that listening to the device was just as effective than reading the dots and dashes. As a point of reference, this compelled the research and collection of the intrinsic sonic qualities of our contemporary communication devices: the cell phone. Today's devices communicate in verbatim. They surpass any codified means and transmit the word, image, video, and sound directly by way of its sensorial facets: microphone, keypad, camera, to the receiving end, which may not be anything like the source.
As scientific investigation is concerned, all the recordings were based on a systematic approach of treating every device exactly the same. Owners were requested to follow the same steps and perform the same tasks: text, email, load a website, get current geo-location, and watch a YouTube video. This systematic approach revealed the different timbres between each device.
Tracklist
| 1. | Droid Incredible | 3:22 |
| 2. | Droid Pro | 6:16 |
| 3. | Samsung Galaxy | 5:12 |
| 4. | HTC Evo 4G | 4:27 |
| 5. | iPhone 3G | 4:47 |
| 6. | iPhone 4 | 4:53 |
| 7. | iPhone 4S | 3:51 |
| 8. | LG Optimus | 6:43 |
| 9. | Motorola Atrix | 3:08 |
| 10. | Google Nexus One | 4:31 |
| 11. | Samsung Gusto | 2:54 |
| 12. | HP Veer | 5:25 |
Credits
All of the device observations were enabled by the students of the Media Design Practices program at Art Center College of Design in 2011.
License
All rights reserved.Tags
My art practice combines creative technology, media design, and sound. My work uses emerging technologies to transform subjects into abstraction and surrealism. My process engages with a subject, a person, a place, a thing, or an idea and the creation of systems or processes and allowing those systems to unfold. I’m comforted by rarely knowing how a creation might speak.