The iSemaphore Project - From optical to morse

The iSemaphore Project

Salut au Langage. Philippe Druez’s mixed media art installation questions the evolution of the written culture and the image culture. It exists in the construction of a communication network that spans 220 years of history, using a sémaphore based system producing a proprietary developed code, optical signs, morse and text. The messages can be heard worldwide on short wave radio and be seen on Twitter. Language is no longer regarded as peripheral to our grasp of the world we live in, but as central to it. F. de Saussure.The constant stream of images floods and overwhelms us. The average person (and image maker) never learnt the language of images and isn’t aware of the power and dangers of it. Evolving communication channels and ultimately the Internet are responsible for the image flood and withering of the written world and it’s culture. SALUT AU LANGAGEAt the end of the eighteenth century, a time of literary and philosophical abundance, the semaphore will announce a new era (of communication).The semaphore is the first step in the industrialisation of communication. This semaphore network will be the mother of the Internet, and maybe the final deathblow of the written word as means of communication.Umberto Eco proposes that every cultural phenomenon may be studied as communication.Linguistics and history stand central in this artwork, where relations and dialogues between language, signs, semiotics, image culture, the written language and communication itself are created and questioned. After losing our ability to remember and recite long texts as the ancient Greeks did, will we lose our ability to read?

After the French revolution, Napoleon needed a way to communicate fast, reliable and secure with his troops around Europe. He ordered to build a 5000km network with optical telegraphs (sémaphores) developed by Claude Chappe. The network could communicate messages at a speed of 500km/hr and lasted for 50 years until the advent of radio communication by Marconi and the Morse code. The first optical telegraph that used coded messages dates back to 150BC and was designed by the Greek Polybius The initial messages will originate from a mechanical installation based on the Chappe sémaphore, and will be communicated along a network trough history. The optical messages produced during the performance of the artist will be transformed by image recognition software and transformed to Morse code and Tweets. The Morse code will be broadcast by short wave transmitters reaching the outscirts of the world for everyone with a short-wave receiver, as will the Tweets over the Internet. A for the purpose written codebook, comparable to Baudot code used in telexes, permits to create the optical messages. A message book will contain an index and messages by visitors and participants of the performance. They are easily sent by the public themselves through the use of the index numbers, the way the Chappe sémaphore worked. LOTTERY FUNDED ARTThe maintenance and salaries to keep the telegraph network running, was too high for Napoleon’s budget. Therefore he introduced a lottery. Similarly, and part of the artwork, 100 lottery bills are issued. The bills are designed and personally signed by the artist are sold at €5,00. Results will be transmitted on June 20th.
PERFORMANCE: 26 APRIL
Location:
Zwalm, Meilegemstraat, Oude Scheldestraat, Belgium.
Date:
Performance and transmissions will be on April 26th between 12:30pm and 17:30pm CEST.
GPS coordinates:
• The iSémaphore: N 50 54 8.8, E 3 41 43.4
• Relay station: N 50 54 12.7, E 3 41 24.3
• HF transmission: N 50 59 38.9, E 3 39 35.6

Transmission Radio Frequencies:

ON1PHD / ON6MS in CW/morse on
• 84,22m = 3,565.00 ± 1kHz and
• 21,33m = 14,065.00 ± 1kHz

Twitter: @The_iSemaphore
Websites:
• http://PhilippeDruez.be/iSemaphore
• http://FaceBook.com/iSemaphore

IT Technology and programming:
Arduino™, littleBits™, C++, Python
Thanks to:
• The Visual Arts Academy, Ghent
• ON6MS @ JO10TX
• AVME Pro Facilities, Oostende
• Everyone who bought a lottery bill!
THE ISEM CODE BOOK
The iSemaphore Project is Open Source and Creative Commons, so here is the codebook (version ISEM.15A) and protocol for the geeks. The iSemaphore can produce 125 different signs. Most of them are readable ASCII-characters. Some are extended UTF-8 characters (not good for Morse-code). The other signs are communication protocol and special commands. 134 - 144 are reserved for future use.