Title Vibrating the Web: Sonospheric Studies of Media Infrastructure Ecologies Type The sis URL https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/14192/ Dat e 2 0 1 9 Citation Parker, Matthew (2019) Vibrating the Web: Sonospheric Studies of Media Infrastructure Ecologies. PhD thesis, University of the Arts London. Cr e a to rs Parker, Matthew Usage Guidelines Please refer to usage guidelines at http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/policies.html or alternatively contact [email protected] . License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Unless otherwise stated, copyright owned by the author Vibrating the Web: Sonospheric Studies of Media Infrastructure Ecologies Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Matthew Parker April 2019 CRiSAP (Creative Research into Sound Art Practice) University of the Arts London London College of Communication Abstract How can the relationship between media infrastructures and the economies of noise foster the development of a sonospheric art practice? Media infrastructures are the material backbone of the Internet. Such sites underpin the digitally hyper- connected world, but as material assemblages are also imbricated in complex and divisive ecological, environmental, economic and affective practices. This thesis identifies a lack of sonic discourse within the body of growing critical art practice researching the field of media infrastructures, and will contribute to the field of sound studies by arguing, and defining a methodology, for listening sonospherically (Oliveros, 2011). Through six original artistic projects researching the presence of media infrastructures, the thesis will argue for the ‘sonospheric investigation’ as a methodology to engage in the politics of such divisive spaces. Vibrant, multisensory, and multimodal, the sonospheric investigation will be demonstrated as a novel approach for field-based research of spatial and technologically mediated environments. Each original artistic project develops what I call the ‘sonopalette’, a toolkit of field research methods which reveal the being of sounds, vibrations, noises and affective vibratory impulses. These methods include – but are not exhaustive of – field recording, oral history interviews, documentary filmmaking, deep listening, vibration sensors, electromagnetic sensors, data scraping and machine learning. A sonospheric engagement with space and place can generate new connections between human, nonhuman and nonorganic bodies that further our understanding of the conditions of the Anthropocene. Working with the scholarly critique of theorists, research by artists, and my own original practice, the thesis will demonstrate that the mixed registers of a sonospheric investigation are a generative area of research for sound studies scholars, artists, and spatial practitioners concerned with the localised impact of global digital material culture. Key words: Anthropocene, culture, economy of noise, field recording, Internet, listening, media infrastructure, medianaturecultures, multimodal, sonopalette, sonosphere, sonospheric investigation, technology, vibration. i Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor team Professor Cathy Lane and Professor Angus Carlyle for their advice and guidance. Thank you also to my colleagues at Creative Research into Sound Art Practice (CRiSAP) at London College of Communication, UAL and the wider network of friends, staff and support systems that came into being at UAL and TECHNE. Generous funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, via the TECHNE research consortium made this project possible. A detailed list of all contributors to the outcomes of this research can be read in Appendix A: Collaborators and contributions. Thank you to my friends and family for listening, especially Zara Dinnen. iii Digital media documentation and accessibility The digital media files which form a significant component of this thesis submission can be accessed using the provided SD Card or upon request will be shared using an Internet based file sharing platform. I recommend the reader considers each work when prompted by the ‘media transition’ sections that will occur throughout the written body of the thesis. The works are intended to be experienced in sequence but I equally encourage the reader to revisit, repeat and engage with the documentation material as often as they like. ‘Appendix C: Media Transition Playback Guide’ offers reccomendations for playback conditions which include environmental, procedural and technical configurations for each piece of digital media documentation. iv 1. Electrostatic Borderlands (2018), audio (53min 33sec) 2. Palimpsest (2017), film (06min 57sec) 3. The People's Cloud (2017) 3a. What is the cloud vs what existed before? (2017), film (09min 05sec) 3b. Working out the Internet: it’s a volume game (2017), film (09min 29sec) 3c. The submarine cable network (2017), film (12min 40sec) 3d. How much data is there? (2017), film (07min 05sec) 3e. Convergence (2017), film (07min 05sec) 4. The People’s Cloud (Original Soundtrack) (2016), audio album (50min 03sec) 5. White Mountain (2016), dir. Emma Charles, film (20min 56sec) * 6. Memory Line (2018) 6a. Memory Line [installation edition] (2018), installation documentation (04min 00sec) 6b. Memory Line [four channel edition] (2018), single channel reduction, film (27min 02sec) 7. Fields of Athenry (2016), installation documentation (04min 49sec) 8. Project Antioch (2017) 8a. Geophony (2017), audio (04min 00sec) 8b. Machine Learning (2017), audio (23min 42sec) * This work is directed by Emma Charles with sound by Matt Parker. The digital media file is unavailable due to copyright restriction. v List of images 1: Shannon's schematic diagram of a general communication system .................... 15 2: Zona De Reserva..................................................................................................... 40 3: Sonopalette field bag 2.0 ....................................................................................... 42 4: Electrostatic Borderlands, production still of electrostatic signal scanning .......... 43 5: Electrostatic Borderlands, production still from recording on mountain peak ..... 43 6: Electrostatic Borderlands, discrete speaker installation image ............................. 44 7: A Mosquito anti-loitering device installation ........................................................ 44 8: Janna submarine cable map .................................................................................. 56 9: Arco di Settimio Severo, Giovanni Battista Piranesi ............................................... 62 10: Palimpsest, production still at the Arch of Septimius Severus ............................ 62 11: Sonopalette field bag 3.0 ..................................................................................... 69 12: Palimpsest, production still at the Baths of Caracalla ......................................... 69 13: Palimpsest, production still at the Reggia ........................................................... 70 14: Big Bang Data. ..................................................................................................... 86 15: Internet Machine, Timo Arnall ............................................................................. 87 16: Mayes County data centre mural, Jenny Odell .................................................... 87 17: Fragile 1, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga ......................................................................... 89 18: B/NdAlTaAu, Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen ................................................. 89 19: Bahamas Internet Cable System (BICS-1), NSA/GCHQ-Tapped Undersea Cable, Atlantic Ocean, Trevor Paglen ................................................................................... 92 20: Farm (Pryor Creek, Oklahoma), pre-production still, John Gerrard .................... 94 21: Farm (Pryor Creek, Oklahoma), John Gerrard ..................................................... 94 22: Landscape with a Ruin, Evan Roth ....................................................................... 97 vi 23: The People's Cloud, production still, KEF201C ................................................... 102 24: The People's Cloud, production still, Ljósafoss .................................................. 102 25: The People's Cloud (Original Soundtrack), album artwork ................................ 103 26: White Mountain, production still #1, Emma Charles ......................................... 109 27: White Mountain, production still, #2, Emma Charles ........................................ 109 28: Memory Line, Milton Keynes Central Library (perspective) .............................. 129 29: Memory Line, nickel wire ................................................................................... 129 30: Original EDSAC Display unit with binary counter............................................... 129 31: Memory Line, screen data matrix ...................................................................... 129 32: Memory Line, Milton Keynes Central Library..................................................... 130 33: Memory Line, The Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge.................. 130 34: Travaux D’Extension ........................................................................................... 140 35: Fields of Athenry, installation view, Brighton Digital Festival ............................ 143 36: Fields