William
Brooks
Macro Impressions
Macro Impressions, 2023
Photographic Series.
An extreme macro-photography series of inscribed metal plates.
Used for their conductive properties, each plate depicts a moment of reception; a material representation of transient transmissions. Using such an intimate perspective affords us the ability to register the minute topography of each etching.
Photographic Series.
An extreme macro-photography series of inscribed metal plates.
Used for their conductive properties, each plate depicts a moment of reception; a material representation of transient transmissions. Using such an intimate perspective affords us the ability to register the minute topography of each etching.
Radio Tapestry
Radio Tapestry, 2022
Sound Installation; Etched Zinc plates connected via copper thread, interfaced with a Raspberry Pi Computer
Dimensions: 2.33m height x 1m width
Radio Tapestry is an installation work, composed of photographic etchings of received radio transmissions on zinc plates. Used as antennae, each plate captures a fleeting moment in time, an intersection between electromagnetism, propagation, and human agency.
Whether the recorded transmissions are intentional - music or communication - or unintentional – polluting electronic sources; security systems, transformers – the materiality of each plate offers an interface into an often-overlooked understanding of space, the Radio Frequency (RF) Landscape. A topographical conception of RF which emphasises that these ethereal interactions exist in parallel to the corporeal space we inhabit in our day-to-day lives.
Each inscribed radio artefact is woven into the next via copper windings. An acknowledgement of the historic association with the textile process of warp and weft to radio’s interrelation between electricity and magnetism. This conductive continuity between plates allows each ‘stitch’ to become part of a larger fabric of antenna, in which every collated radio artefact serves part of a more substantial receiver. Received signals are then audibly played back in real-time, allowing us to witness the propagation of information in space.
Sound Installation; Etched Zinc plates connected via copper thread, interfaced with a Raspberry Pi Computer
Dimensions: 2.33m height x 1m width
Radio Tapestry is an installation work, composed of photographic etchings of received radio transmissions on zinc plates. Used as antennae, each plate captures a fleeting moment in time, an intersection between electromagnetism, propagation, and human agency.
Whether the recorded transmissions are intentional - music or communication - or unintentional – polluting electronic sources; security systems, transformers – the materiality of each plate offers an interface into an often-overlooked understanding of space, the Radio Frequency (RF) Landscape. A topographical conception of RF which emphasises that these ethereal interactions exist in parallel to the corporeal space we inhabit in our day-to-day lives.
Each inscribed radio artefact is woven into the next via copper windings. An acknowledgement of the historic association with the textile process of warp and weft to radio’s interrelation between electricity and magnetism. This conductive continuity between plates allows each ‘stitch’ to become part of a larger fabric of antenna, in which every collated radio artefact serves part of a more substantial receiver. Received signals are then audibly played back in real-time, allowing us to witness the propagation of information in space.
Inscriptions
Inscriptions, 2022
Etched zinc plates
Various Dimensions: from 2x2cm to A2
Each zinc plate has been used as an antenna, to record information, exclusive to its resonant frequencies. The resonant frequency is denoted by, and unique to, the definitions of the plate; the material, weight, size, composition. These recordings of Radio transmission vary from intentional - this could be broadcast stations or amateur communications - to unintentional spurious emissions of RF, such as locally oscillating circuits, but most crucially they all involve the provocation of electromagnetic energy. Each piece of recorded information is bound to the plate that was used to receive it. A literal moment in time in which the recording was taken; a specific intermingling of time, electromagnetism, and human agency (receiving or transmitting)
The digital recording taken was then inscribed back into the plate, leaving an impression; thus turning the machined zinc plate from an industrial material to an RF artefact. Not only does each antenna (plate) offer a conduit into the electromagnetic spectrum, the medium of the computational (software) also offers a visual interface in which to present such a phenomena.
Etched zinc plates
Various Dimensions: from 2x2cm to A2
Each zinc plate has been used as an antenna, to record information, exclusive to its resonant frequencies. The resonant frequency is denoted by, and unique to, the definitions of the plate; the material, weight, size, composition. These recordings of Radio transmission vary from intentional - this could be broadcast stations or amateur communications - to unintentional spurious emissions of RF, such as locally oscillating circuits, but most crucially they all involve the provocation of electromagnetic energy. Each piece of recorded information is bound to the plate that was used to receive it. A literal moment in time in which the recording was taken; a specific intermingling of time, electromagnetism, and human agency (receiving or transmitting)
The digital recording taken was then inscribed back into the plate, leaving an impression; thus turning the machined zinc plate from an industrial material to an RF artefact. Not only does each antenna (plate) offer a conduit into the electromagnetic spectrum, the medium of the computational (software) also offers a visual interface in which to present such a phenomena.
Cellular Impressions
Cellular Impressions, 2020
Digital Image Series
A visualisation of cellular transmission from a mobile phone. Despite the abstract and formalised image of these Ultra-High-Frequency exchanges, each mark represents bits of information that construct the habits, interests, and interactions of the user, thus serving as digital footprint.
Digital Image Series
A visualisation of cellular transmission from a mobile phone. Despite the abstract and formalised image of these Ultra-High-Frequency exchanges, each mark represents bits of information that construct the habits, interests, and interactions of the user, thus serving as digital footprint.