Eight hours and forty-five minutes, that’s how much time we spend on average per day on media. That’s means we spend one third of our lives watching, listening, browsing, calling, Whatsapping, emailing and gaming, which is a surprising (or even shocking) amount of our time.
We do this via telecommunication: information is transferred from one place to another, without requiring anything or anyone to move. We often fail to realise that our messages are converted into patterns or ‘codes’ in the form of electric signals, light pulses or radio waves before they are transmitted via cables, glass fibres or ether (air). And that’s not just the case for data but also for the personal stories, feelings or photos that you send to your family and friends.
While modern communication has drastically changed our lives, it has also become an abstract and elusive process that many of us can’t wrap our heads around. In Transmission, Serge Schoemaker imagines this in his own way: he has created an installation of waving illuminated tubes – 19 to be precise – along the water that have been programmed in a way to make it look like light is literally moving through the air. It’s almost a calming version of the incredibly fast light that travels through fibre optic cables. But what kinds of information does Transmission actually transmit? Who is the sender and who is the recipient?
With its clean lines and white light, Transmission is characteristic of the minimalistic interiors and (public installations) that Schoemaker has become known for. This work is his second light artwork for Amsterdam Light Festival; Alley of Light was presented at the 2014-2015 edition of the festival.
