THE ELECTROMAGNETIC MASSAGE / Images without surface

Opening Times during  Ars Electronica Festival 2021

We open the electromagnetic space. Then we dematerialise images and send them per electromagnetic waves to the ether.

STWST’s No Architects have made an entire Art Space disappear into thin air. On the Maindeck there is scaffolding enclosing an invisible building. The Grid Museum as a dematerialised space is the construction site of the future and the space which symbolizes the open electromagnetic space. In the Grid Museum’s open system, images hang neither higher nor lower, but it is about the dissolution of spaces as they were. A permeable space plays on the unlimited electromagnetic space with a dissolved image gallery. Here, in the space without walls and floors, a different transfer of images and information takes place via radio waves into the electromagnetic space on a DIY basis. A collection of images goes into the unregulated, analogue, open and boundless space: radio waves penetrate walls, overcome borders, spread out into space. We thus use non-protocol parallel communication structures and information systems. And we understand this as an artistic and political act. We understand this as a reference to a new digital intellect that has to be autonomous and independent, and has to set its reference points as far outside as possible.

Make Me a Signal – STWST48x7 OUT OF MATTER, Credit: Franz Xaver (AT)

• We tansmit radio signal via beacon transmitter from the Ship Eleonore in Linz.
• In this project we transmit images by radio signal to leave borders behind and to launch a dematerialized gallery into the unlimited electromagnetic space.
• The images are transmitted via QO100 Narrowband WebSDR, using the Es’Hail QO100 satellite. We transmit using the 180 year-old fax format, which is still used by news and weather services today. The artist’s callsign is OE5FXC.
• On Saturday evening, we will broadcast and receive live on the Maindeck in front of the STWST. It’s a visual and aural broadcast: the transmission can be seen and heard there. For those who want to follow the broadcast: https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/ and 10489.586 kHZ.
• Besides this network interface, we will also install a downlink antenna on the maindeck to be independent from the network. The downlink antenna receives the broadcast signal directly from the Es’Hail QO100 satellite. Here the transmission can only be heard.
• Back to the images we are sending: The first image we send to electromagnetic space shows a project in which an antenna receives hydrogen radiation from the universe. While another project is about measuring sleep and exploring deeper resources. A few more images of STWST staff will follow. According to Marshall McLuhan, the medium is the massage and image content becomes ancillary.
• The electromagnetic media is the massage.
• The transmission and retransmission of radio waves into an image can be seen live at STWST via satellite receivers and network interfaces. Those who want to try out the retrieval via network interface themselves: Search for an app that can do this.
• We are transmitting from the Maindeck, from The Grid Museum – Baustelle der Zukunft.
• A camper will also drive on to the Maindeck: The project is supported with infrastructure, content and mediation by the Media Camper of Karel Dudesek and Marcus Kabele.