. Brazilian Kilohertz site video documentation
International counter-surveillance station array (work-in-progress) Artistic research project for rural sites & experimental print publication project Geopolitic land art intervention, June 2015-ongoing
Goal: Exploring military high-frequency radio communication system remainders in rural settings world-wide.
Developed during Rural.Scapes Residency Brazil 2016.
Consisting of an array of land art sculptures holding simple DIY copper wire-antennas, Kilohertz is an ongoing research project about the geopolitics of radio communication. Set in rural areas in Brazil and Estonia (so far), the Kilohertz ground stations are constantly surveilling radio frequency ranges reseved for military of the respective countries as well as of other big international powers, such as the NATO and the European Union. These ground stations, set-up in lowly populated areas and guarded with barbed wire fences, are, like their institutional counterparts, exclusion zones.
In Brazil, snapshots of the radio spectrum at 35-50MHz (former Brazilian governmental allocation), 50-80MHz (Brazilian and NATO military allocations), 138-160MHz (Brazilian police/military allocation) and 389-400MHz (Brazilian governmental allocation since 2014) are taken every day and are processed and uploaded to this website. The comparison between the different days is a first attempt to recognize the forms of "official communication" in the complexity of the electromagnetic spectrum. Analysis of these snapshots is part of the ongoing process of the project. Detailed reports will be published on an irregular basis.
Disclaimer: In most countries, it is illegal to tune into specific radio bands used for official governmental communication purposes (military, police, etc).B The hardware used in the Kilohertz project is in no way limited to follow these governmental regulations. Obediance to the law has been applied where it was understood as absolutely necessary.
Kilohertz searches for radio usage (beacons, transmissions, conventional radar, over-the-horizon radar) in military frequency bands as a proof of potential or existence of military communication in the RF spectrum (in peacetime) in order to show how the spectrum is used as a political medium - a disputed territory in which different regulations of different countries overlap. Especially searching for empirical evidence of radio communication from foreign countries, found foreign military radio transmissions can effectively be understood as military actions within foreign souvereign territory, which brings up questions not only about governance of the radio spectrum not only in the relation state-individual/company, but also in inter-state relations (foreign policy).
Brasil Site
Located near Sao Jose do Barreiro, Brazil (est. July 2016) at GPS -22.64821/-44.66956 (UP) (project website at ruralscapes.net)
Antenna 1 Type: Small Loop Material: Copper 0.13sqmm cross section Center frequency: 40MHz Azimuth: N/A (Angle 90B0)
Antenna 2 Type: Inverted vee multiband Material: Copper 0.13sqmm cross section Center frequencies: 65MHz, 150MHz, 400MHz Azimuth: approx 290B0