The 71 Signals project I produced in 2003-4 was an investigation into moving image hybrids, emergent media, and using distributed networks (darknets) to produce, promote and distribute this work. Project and research was funded by the Arts Council of England.
71 Signals created a capsule narrative framework based on generating work around the area of electrical data, transmissions and frequencies. Using media elements as a jumping off point, it solicited commissions and invited contributions through an ‘open source’ phase, to investigate the use of alternative networks and artist production. The core purposes of the project involved exploring emergent media:
- Different representations and ideas in moving image, going beyond alternative moving image sources such as music video, VJing, and motion graphics.
- Generative and remixable media.
- Applying alternative distribution and promotion methods to test the dissemination of this work using new online protocols and software.
Many of these ideas found further fruition when I created the Swarm of Angels project a couple of years later.
F13T is a sample video I directed as part of 71 Signals, using heavily processed nightvision footage. As most of the footage was let loose over ‘dark nets’ it was deliberately ephemeral, and much of the other multimedia data produced was lost once people stopped sharing the media. Sound recordist Rashid Omar provided the soundtrack: field recordings of electromagnetic radiation from the Nevada desert.