Tricky Walsh
THZTRNCVR, 2017
Balsa wood, Bass wood, Maple, Ply, Pine, Acrylic, Rochelle Salt crystals, Optic fibres and light engine.
178 x 120 x 100cm
5932
AU$ 18,500.00
THz (Terahertz transceiver.) We’ve just about filled up the electromagnetic spectrum with cat pictures. And other things, obviously – our once sparse atmosphere which was initially broken by the first...
THz
(Terahertz transceiver.)
We’ve just about filled up the electromagnetic spectrum with cat pictures.
And other things, obviously – our once sparse atmosphere which was initially broken by the first signals and voices of radio pioneers is chock full so we’re opening up new real estate. The Terahertz part of the electromagnetic spectrum is about to get popular. It sits between radio and lasers. Once we figure it out properly, they’ll be safer that X-rays for medical imaging, we’ll generate energy with them and also (not entirely sure on this one) embed bubbles into DNA to stop it from doing whatever bad thing DNA does when left unattended. (I’m pretty shaky on biology.)
I’ve been living in a speculative world for the last few years, one which imagines the development of technologies to have taken a different path than the one we’ve taken – one which has evolved a multitude of functions from one device, rather than expanding from one idea to the next with little reflection. The machines I make tend to reflect the tangential rather than linear evolution. Let’s face it though, most of the machines I make fulfill inessential functions.
Aesthetically I am most inspired by the sense of urgency on the part of the inventor, in the home-brew development of the close-to-hand, of intimate engineering versus mass production. I grew up with people who had great sheds and pioneering spirits who would knock up a hovercraft out of scrap metal and enthusiasm and go hunting for treasure.
So What is this thing then?
What this thing is, is a communication device. It receives radio waves, amplifies them in its resonant cavity into the terahertz range, embeds them onto a light wave and converts that original RF into a perceivable, optical signal. Theoretically you’d work it a bit like morse code with the spectrum-based telegraph key because honestly, I quite like economical conversations. More than that, I like the idea that when we break new ground we do it slowly, with consideration.
Probably more than anything, this is a philosophical machine.
(Terahertz transceiver.)
We’ve just about filled up the electromagnetic spectrum with cat pictures.
And other things, obviously – our once sparse atmosphere which was initially broken by the first signals and voices of radio pioneers is chock full so we’re opening up new real estate. The Terahertz part of the electromagnetic spectrum is about to get popular. It sits between radio and lasers. Once we figure it out properly, they’ll be safer that X-rays for medical imaging, we’ll generate energy with them and also (not entirely sure on this one) embed bubbles into DNA to stop it from doing whatever bad thing DNA does when left unattended. (I’m pretty shaky on biology.)
I’ve been living in a speculative world for the last few years, one which imagines the development of technologies to have taken a different path than the one we’ve taken – one which has evolved a multitude of functions from one device, rather than expanding from one idea to the next with little reflection. The machines I make tend to reflect the tangential rather than linear evolution. Let’s face it though, most of the machines I make fulfill inessential functions.
Aesthetically I am most inspired by the sense of urgency on the part of the inventor, in the home-brew development of the close-to-hand, of intimate engineering versus mass production. I grew up with people who had great sheds and pioneering spirits who would knock up a hovercraft out of scrap metal and enthusiasm and go hunting for treasure.
So What is this thing then?
What this thing is, is a communication device. It receives radio waves, amplifies them in its resonant cavity into the terahertz range, embeds them onto a light wave and converts that original RF into a perceivable, optical signal. Theoretically you’d work it a bit like morse code with the spectrum-based telegraph key because honestly, I quite like economical conversations. More than that, I like the idea that when we break new ground we do it slowly, with consideration.
Probably more than anything, this is a philosophical machine.