A Dialogue Between Two Signal Lights

From the Exhibition Moisture Techne at Hybrida in Älvsbacka, Sweden.

Hybrida is an artist in residency program which took place July 2021 in Älvsbacka, in the west of Sweden. In A Dialogue Between Two Signal Lights (2021) the viewer encounters an installation with two signal lights commonly used in machine lines and logistical processes. The rhythmic soundscape fires back and forth between the two ‘traffic lights’. The sound emanates from the electronic switches (relais) which are amplified by the wooden plates they are mounted behind. Similar to a military drummer, a constant ‘exchange’ is orchestrated between the two lights, signaling continuously towards each other.

Artist text:

"Signal lights are interlocutors in the space of industrial production. They direct the flow of goods in machine controlled paths. As a signalling device, their function is similar to traffic lights. They construct intricate paths of ordered interchange between key points. Signal lights are a figure of a networked and global world of structured movements. Coded visual signs proliferate across industrial spaces. Machinic and human operators tag goods with tickets and receipts as traces of transactions. Embedded into flows they progress on paths within logistical systems and larger machinic networks. This connectivity encapsulates the entire world with networks that colonize human relations and exceed the individual actors. Much like a clock articulates the infinity of time into radial segments, networks demarcate movement within the bounds of their connections, thus creating the illusion that the world is structured into logical parameters and categories, and is exploitable by human activity. This global network functions like a language, shapes thinking and channels it through networks, which reduce our access to the world. This obscures the possibility of radical departures within thought, or even removes it entirely. The creation of such a possibility is a vital goal for the decolonization of thought."

Materials:

Signal lights, Light stands, 5-channel relais, Network cables, Multiply