1. WAV 2. WAV 3. WAV 4. WAV 5. WAV 6. WAV Click on the sound samples to listen in on the CRCA installation.	Contact Information: Additional documentation is available through: Timothy Nohe, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Visual Art Department, FA 111, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA, 410-455-2150. nohe@umbc.edu,

Overview:
"Signature (Your Radio's Real Bad)" was a site-specific installation that made evident and audible the radio frequency (RF) radiation that is ever-present in our environment. Some of the issues explored in the installation were: "California Culture"; the cultural and electronic permeability of the international border at San Diego/Tijuana; voyeurism; communications privacy; and the seepage of public "trash TV culture" into interpersonal conversation. I created this site specific installation and audio CD while in residence as a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts, La Jolla, CA, in July of 1998 .

Techniques/Technology:
Using a radio frequency scanner in the GHz range I recorded, composed, and documented RF emissions in San Diego, California. Some frequencies that were evident: police and fire transmissions; television audio; automated civilian air traffic control beacons; weather broadcasts; alarm data streams; AM/FM radio; ham radio; walkie-talkies; and cellular phone calls. Sampling the RF scanner through an audio signal compressor, I collected 4 hours of digital audio tape as a "data take", and then digitized and edited the DAT source tape on Oliveros, CRCA's Macintosh digital audio workstation. An 8:52 mono AIFF file was assembled using "straight" cut and paste techniques, the resulting master was then "burned" to an audio CD which looped constantly over a set of tiny 8 ohm speakers. The speakers were placed inside fluted glasses and attached to the facade of the Visual Arts Facility (VAF ) at the University of California San Diego.

Installation:
The installation space functioned as a very public distribution, listening, and viewing space. The Visual Arts Facility was completed in 1993 as a teaching and studio facility for UCSD Visual Arts faculty and graduate student research. The stark postmodern building is ringed by a set of rolling steel gateways and doors, and surrounded by two story rusticated block walls, alternated with composite wood beams. I drew attention to the sound-work by painting graphic 12 ' x 12 ' icons on the gate structures flanking the main entrances to the VAF. Interactors were drawn from a pedestrian walk and Russell Lane by the black and white ideograms of: a "listener" holding a scanner; a large radio broadcasting tower; a set of mobile "whip" antennas; and a police cruiser. The CD audio was broadcast via glasses integrated into the design of the icons; for example the mouth of the "listener" appears as a glass mouthpiece.The speaker / glasses attached to the facade have been likened to kids "tin can telephones" or to a nosy neighbor's drinking glass pressed against a wall to listen-in on "private" conversations.

Performing the "Giveaways:"
An edition of audio CD's, "signed by the artist," were distributed at the opening of the installation to anyone willing to be videotaped in the act of responding to a brief questionnaire. The incentive bonus of the transaction was a "Signature" audio CD, rather than instant coupons or frequent flyer miles. The participants were asked:

1. Do you own a wireless or cell phone?

2. Have you submitted your telephone number, zip code or social security number to a database?

A second form was then produced noting current Federal and State restrictions upon scanning and reproduction of broadcasts and telecommunications:

corrupt, distribute, commodify, take

 

This is a limited edition set of sound files, signed by the artist. The CD may be reproduced with absolute fidelity to the original.

 

Warning: revelation of telecommunication, radio, or television content may be in violation of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. Your state and/or local community may have laws restricting the use of scanners. Several states have enacted laws prohibiting the interception of cordless telephone conversations.

 

I (the undersigned) understand the above statement and accept this data object unconditionally.

I then offered a pen to the participant, and awaited their decision as neutrally as possible. If asked about the nature of the questions, warning or signatory list, I responded with short declarative statements. I was not interested in gathering the specific content of the verbal responses or even the signatures, I was instead quite curious about the duration of the response time for the sample group. The mean response time of the group, from the start of the questioning period to the conclusion of the transaction marked by signing the unconditional statement was 1:27. The quickest interaction was :27 seconds and the longest interaction was 2:03. Nobody refused to sign the documentation in the CRCA sample group. The speed of decision making, especially when choosing to potentially violate the law, was varied and at times provocative, and one of the revelations of this edition of the work. An earlier site specific edition of Signature was installed at School 33 Art Center in Baltimore, MD, USA.