Atmospheres of communication
Communications have often been understood as bound up with media devices. Wireless communication, however, presents distinct ways of understanding media as it exceeds the devices, interfaces, and wires through which we typically conceive of the medium of communication. Working initially with Marconi...
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| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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University of Toronto Press
2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/4492/ https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/4492/1/WS_4_Gabrys.pdf http://www.utppublishing.com/product.php?productid=2114&cat=0&page=1 |
| Summary: | Communications have often been understood as bound up with media devices. Wireless communication, however, presents distinct ways of understanding media as it exceeds the devices, interfaces, and wires through which we typically conceive of the medium of communication. Working initially with Marconi’s transmission of wireless signals between Cornwall, England, and Newfoundland, Canada, this chapter charts how that first wireless exchange, ‘dot … dot … dot’, relocates wireless media from the 19th Century ocean to the contemporary city, and multiplies towards a concentration of wireless exchanges that give rise to expanded ecologies of transmission. This chapter explores how an atmospheric mode of communication –like the ether, resonant and electric – delineates urban spaces that are characterised by emanation, presence, and surround. Originally presented in 2005 as part of the ‘Mobile Digital Commons Network’ symposium (http://www.mobilelab.ca/mdcn/index.html), this chapter develops an investigation into wireless cities through reconsidering urban communication and exchange through atmospheric topologies. |
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