Spectral Surrounding - live radio frequency light array

“Spectral Surrounding” is an interactive installation that visualizes radio frequencies in the exhibition room. 700 LED lights, arranged in a grid above the visitors, react to different signals. They show live detected mobile radio signals as well as data communication like WIFI and bluetooth transmissions from the devices that visitors bring along. The conceptual starting point was the quite controversial idea of creating awareness for the signals surroundings. What do our everyday devices emit? How much invisible communication is going on around us? Contrary to what we might imagine, a chaotic tangle of a wide variety of signals on a broad range of channels is permanently all around us. This data is translated to visual feedback, on a scale that spatially surrounds the spectator. This work aims to point out the extent to which we are constantly digitally active, and how our communication behavior inevitably leads to distraction by all kinds of information.