With »TextFm,« Matthew Fuller and Graham Harwood explore the relationship between media and public, between power and communication. They test out the latent potential of different media by combining them in an unconventional way. The »TextFm« software, which was presented at this year's »transmediale,« does not produce anything visual; it is software as a sound process. »TextFm« receives an SMS via mobile telephone. This is read out by a computer and broadcast by a radio station. In this way, a completely open radio station is created to which anyone can send a message, a dialogue or a slogan.

»TextFm« is a collaborative work of art. For it to function, more is needed than just the installation of the software. People are constantly needed as well to send SMS messages. That is why Matthew Fuller speaks of a piece of social and speculative software, as opposed to the usual computer culture, which in its conventions only ever addresses individual users. The use of Perl allows »TextFm« to function literally as an »open art work.« In the same spirit as Open Source, this software can never be monopolised by a person or group - and that includes its makers. While the first code of »TextFm« ¹ was only programmed for Macs, Ivan Averintsev of the Public Netbase in Vienna has now developed a faster version, this time for Linux. The next planned installation of »TextFm« in Italy will be based on this version, as systems like Mac OS and Windows seem to be compatible only with global languages like English and Spanish; Italian is foreign to them. »TextFm,« on the other hand, can be adapted as a set-up for local purposes to fit local demands.

After a first trial run in Amsterdam, »TextFm« was installed in Vienna from January 25 2002. Here, it runs as a sound installation in the »Basecamp« ² tent of Public Netbase, which is set up next to the museum district. Every day, the short messages are broadcast via CB radio loudly enough for passers-by to hear them clearly. Since it was opened, around 5,000 messages have come in. But what does giving SMS a voice mean? SMS are short pieces of information that make do with a maximum of 160 signs. One could ask what can be said at all in such a brief space. And, in fact, »TextFm« sounds more like babble than anything else. But according to Matthew Fuller, it is precisely here that a certain resistance can be seen. After all, it shows a disregard for the symbolic when people do not care about being comprehensible, but perhaps even derive pleasure from this verbal garbage. Seen in this way, a babbling voice can be something very political. The production of meaning takes a back seat; new opportunities for flexibility within the language are tried out that move between sensation and noise and themselves are inherent in this system. Through its presence as a voice, the synthetic computer gains a virtual power. What is said takes second place to the sonic effect.

»Basecamp-TextFm« has succeeded in bringing an element of irritation into the public sphere. This is not only a result of the unusual sonic display; the garish tent with its changing inscriptions doubtless also plays a part. This experimental, collaborative public broadcast was used successfully to make people aware of the dire media situation in Austria. In this way, the Public Netbase Basecamp became an example of critical cultural practice. Its geographical proximity to the museum district accentuated a particular »problem zone,« while the use of »TextFm« made it possible to operate anonymously at the intersections between private and public space. In this way, an intervention was made in a public space that does not seem to be a given constant, but something that has to be continually reinvented.

 

Translated by Tim Jones

 

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