DARE-DARE: Matthew Biederman - DAREDx

Matthew Biederman
DAREDx
(radio broadcasting, workshop, walks and talks, conferences)
at square Cabot
August 29 to September 21, 2008 (off on Mondays)
opening Friday August 29 5PM-9PM
FM Transmitter workshop Sunday August 31 at 2PM
walks + talks Sundays September 7 and 14 at 2PM
conferences September 20 and 21 from 1PM to 5PM
radio.dare-dare.org

Today’s radio spectrum is predominately utilized by the military and governmental organizations, with government regulating bodies doling out expensive licenses to corporations for the right to broadcast en masse in public space. These powerful “one way” broadcast licenses have come to be understood as ‘radio’ versus the initial conception of radio as a “many to many” communications medium. Except for a small fraction of frequencies allocated to amateur operators, who only need to pass a simple exam to receive the right to use the spectrum, there is no other way for the public to gain any access to this resource, arguably one of Earth’s most important, and only inexhaustible resources.

Our situation today is far from Guglielmo Marconi’s visions of radio’s ability to save lives and enlighten humanity, or Velimir Klebnikov’s ‘Radio of the Future’. Instead, today’s radio spectrum is a tightly controlled, profitized commodity. In this light, DAREDX seeks to re-establish the public’s presence and right of occupation within the radio spectrum. While there exists an active and progressive amateur radio community worldwide, it is out of sight from the general public. DAREDX will expose and access the radio spectrum by aurally re-broadcasting nightly explorations throughout the radio spectrum. Activating the evening air of Cabot Square in order to re-establish the connection of the spectrum to public space. DAREDX will allow the public in the square to hear the signals we are enveloped in. Re-invigorating the words of an infamous amateur operator in the early 1900s when told by the US Navy to remove himself from a particular frequency: “Say, you navy people think you own the ether. Who ever heard of the navy, anyway? Beat it, you, beat it.” The spectrum will no longer remain closed to the ears and eyes of the public, and instead will become part of the natural landscape of Cabot Square.

Matthew Biederman, working under the call sign VA2XBX/P will be operating a high frequency transceiver in the open air of Cabot Square. He will be attempting long-distance communication with as many different operators as possible over the course of the intervention. Each complete communication will be logged and mapped creating a diary of the airwaves every night (radio.dare-dare.org). Additionally, DAREDX will attempt a set of digital communications, in order to receive SSTV (SlowScan Televsion), WEFAX (from NOAA Satellites) and many more. All of the actions’ audio will be played in Cabot Square, creating a sonic landscape of the electromagnetic spectrum in real time. All of the audio will be archived and made available under a creative commons license. The aggregation of these actions build into the overall DAREDX project.

DAREDX will run every evening (except Mondays) from the 29th of August until the 21st of September from 5PM to 9PM (21:00-01:00 UTC). There will also be a series of public talks, walks, and workshops held every Sunday afternoon at 2PM. Sunday the 31st will be a micro power FM Transmitter workshop, where everyone who attends will build their own FM transmitter to take home with them. Other Sundays will include talks from local HAM radio enthusiasts, pirate radio operators, and a derive through Montreal to listen to the invisible electromagnetic radiation around our city.

Originally from the United States, Matthew Biederman (Montréal) has been doing performances, installations and exhibitions since the mi-1990’s. www.mbiederman.com www.spectralecology.org