|
(For slower internet connections, video may take a few second to load when you press play)
Exhibitions
2009 Cathode Ray Mission, Waterside Project Space, London
2009 Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Cornerhouse, Manchester and Rochelle School, London
2009 Evenings of Delight, Candid Arts Trust, London
|
This video was the result of an investigation into an often forgotten chapter in the history of technological hacking that predated the personal computer – phone hacking. In the 1950s, automated telephonic switchboard technology was gaining widespread use, and, to cut corners, phone companies used the same channel to send signals (via tones) that users would speak down. Hackers soon found that by playing tones of certain frequencies down the line, they could hack into the phone system and make free long distance calls, set up chat-room-like conference calls between users, and even – as myth has it – phone into the White House.
When personal computers came onto the scene, phone hackers (or 'phreaks') were some of the early pioneers. Phone hacking still continued through to the 1990s when digital switching systems were gradually put into place and hackers were no longer able to dial in to play with the phones. The last analog carrier system in the continental US was in Wawina, MN. Northern Telephone Company had a customer base of around 30 or 40 homes total, and, in June 2006, made the switch to digital because they could no longer handle the volume of phreaks calling in to play with their phone lines. This piece reflects the immense sadness and nostalgia felt for this particular technology, as captured in the voicemails left by phreaks leading up to the switchover to digital. Additionally the piece revolves around my own journey to Wawina and the realisation that all of those people from all over the world were calling in to this beautiful, remote, tiny township. |
