PROJECT ECHO
2010-2011
Sound, radio waves
3:36:00 (looped)
M. Whitwell
Sound, radio waves
3:36:00 (looped)
M. Whitwell
Project Echo was a radio station artwork based in Wellington, New Zealand. Project Echo is based on the number stations phenomena and is a parody of this. Now out of action due to electronic failure, Project Echo was on air from April 2010 to May 2011.
Project Echo broadcasted synthetic voices reading out an hours long loop of NATO phonetic code. To emulate the audio aesthetic of authentic number stations the voices have been mixed with other sound samples using a small variety of audio manipulation tools. This code can be fairly easily translated and separated into 175 short English texts, though knowledge that the code is acrophonic is required first. The texts are predominately politicised against social and government authority and control. There is no exact timetable that the station stuck to, though the transmitter was in operation for extended periods on an almost daily basis. The station was not advertised and listeners were intended to be caught unwittingly so that Project Echo could be approached by an audience considering the station outside of an art context.
The transmitter used for Project Echo was a commercial model and its signal could be picked up for up to 2km. Almost the entire time the station broadcasted the transmitter was based in Wellington's Mount Cook suburb. Little is known about the listenership of Project Echo as it was a clandestine operation, but it is certain that most FM radio listeners in the area would have at least tuned past it on their dial.
What they thought they were listening to is unknown.
What they thought they were listening to is unknown.
