As Above Not Below

As Above Not Below is a data sonification and visualisation installation which exposes the impalpable infrastructure of international airspace, and the limits of our access to the sky above us. A large floor-projected map of Belgium displays the visual boundaries and structures of alternating international air regulations (civil, military, prohibited etc) to expose how the form of Belgium is radically re-shaped through this regulatory infrastructure.

Data collected via radio transmissions from nearby aircraft allows their movements to be projected onto the map to expose how these regulations interact with our everyday experiences of air travel. The sounds of air traffic control communications move through the installation space alongside the vessels, exposing how these regulatory conditions also determine linguistic modes of communication. Where we have not been granted access to these communications, they are replaced by the external sounds of planes, exposing how frequently our access to this system is blocked by the regulations themselves.

As Above Not Below is a new collaboration between myself and Georgina Voss. Our ongoing collaborations expand on our individual interdisciplinary practices around critical examinations of technology, culture, and society, and draws on their collective emphasis on public understanding and engagement with socio-technical systems.