The Romanticism of One-Way Transmission 單向傳輸的詩意傳遞

寫於《我們把它都裝在一個盒子裡｜Put ’em in a Box》展覽

Instructions for the “Soundscape of Broadcasting” project.

At its most fundamental level, radio operates through the transmission of electromagnetic waves, including both person-to-person and mass communication. While most people associate radio with public broadcasting, radio technology is employed in various products ranging from military equipment to household electronics. From the 1920s to the 1950s, radio gradually permeated everyday life. During this “Golden Age of Radio,” it became a primary medium for propaganda, public information, and entertainment, forming an invisible yet omnipresent landscape of signals.

In 1903, Guglielmo Marconi achieved the first successful transatlantic wireless telegraph transmission, marking a breakthrough in remote communication without relying on submarine cables. In 1926, Bertolt Brecht suggested that radio technology should evolve from one-way distribution to two-way communication. One-way communication, such as radio broadcasting, is a passive reception method, while two-way communication, like the Internet, emphasizes interaction and participation. The ability to engage in information exchange instead of passively receiving represents a paradigm shift in social interaction patterns.

Technologies like 5G and IoT shine like stars, weaving a global data network nowadays. Our lives have become more interconnected, instantaneous, and intelligent. High bandwidth and low latency communication allow us to connect instantly with any corner of the world, seamlessly facilitating human-to-human and machine-to-machine dialogues.

However, as we stand at the forefront of technological advancement, radio/shortwave transmissions invite us to re-experience a one-way, undirected broadcast of information, a lost sense of simplicity. While Brecht viewed the isolation of broadcasting as a flaw, this very isolation can also be seen as a virtue in specific contexts. Unlike the constant demands for likes, comments, and follows on social media, this seemingly outdated technology, once the backbone of information dissemination, requires no immediate response and immerses us in an intangible realm of sound.

Radio broadcasts vary by location and time due to regional spectrum allocations and atmospheric conditions, making listening to the radio a personal and momentary journey. Connecting a smartphone to an antenna can modernize this technology, enabling devices to interpret shortwave signals. In this exhibition, besides multichannel compositions and recordings of radio tuning, I set up a pirate radio station using radios and shortwave transmissions. The broadcast signal is affected by spatial obstacles and interspersed with environmental interferences, creating a hybrid soundscape that blends reality and illusion.

In today’s information-saturated world, tuning radio frequency is an act of articulation; radio broadcasts’ ephemeral nature uncovers the hidden messages surrounding us beyond human sensory perception. This exploration resonates with the concept of time-limited, site-specific experiences, where scanning the spectrum becomes analogous to a sound walk, navigating the ever-changing landscape of electromagnetic waves. I want to experience these undifferentiated signals and interferences to evoke a sense of presence and connection in a world dominated by instantaneous, multi-directional communication.

Installation view from Put ’em in a Box exhibition at Waley Art, Taipei.

基本上，無線電是通過電磁波進行通訊，涵蓋了人與人之間的溝通以及大眾傳播。雖然大多數人將無線電與向大眾廣播的電台聯繫在一起，但無線電技術也應用於從軍事設備到家庭電子產品的各種領域，人們開始意識到無線頻譜的價值，衍生出繁複的監管與分配措施。從1920年代到1950年代，廣播逐漸滲透到日常生活中。在這個「廣播黃金年代（Golden Age of Radio）」，它成為政治宣傳、公共資訊和娛樂的主要媒介，形成一個無形又無所不在的訊號景觀。

1903年，古列爾莫·馬可尼（Guglielmo Marconi ）成功完成了第一次跨大西洋的無線電報傳輸，開創了不依賴海底電纜的遠程通信時代。1926年，布萊希特（Bertolt Brecht）提出無線電技術應從單向傳輸演進到雙向通訊。單向傳播（如廣播）是一種一對多、被動接收資訊的方式，而雙向通訊（如網際網路）則強調互動和參與。從被動的接收者到能夠參與訊息交換過程，標誌著社會互動模式的轉變。

進入數位化時代，5G和物聯網技術如同星辰般閃耀，交織出一張全球數據網路。我們的生活變得更加互聯、即時、智慧。寬頻和低延遲通訊使我們能瞬間連接世界每一個角落。無論是人與人之間的交流，還是物與物之間的對話，一切都是如此流暢自然。

然而，當我們站在科技前沿時，無線電和短波傳輸卻允許我們重新體驗一種單向、無指向性的訊息傳遞，喚起一種快被遺忘的簡單純粹。雖然布萊希特將廣播的孤立性視為缺陷，但在特定情境下，其孤立性也可被視為美德。這種看似過時的技術，曾經是訊息傳播的中堅力量，與社交媒體上不停點讚、評論和關注的需求不同，它不需要即時回應，卻將聽者沉浸在無形的聲響之海。

由於地區頻譜分配和環境條件的影響，無線電廣播隨地點和時間的不同而變化，使得收聽無線電成為一段難以重現的個人體驗。將智慧型手機連接到天線，可以使這種過時的技術被召喚至當代應用，賦予現代設備解讀短波訊號的能力。在這次展覽中，除了多聲道合成和多段廣播調頻過程的錄音外，我還利用收音機和短波傳輸構成一個簡易「海盜電台」。廣播訊號受空間障礙物影響，從收音機中傳出了聲音包含了廣播調頻錄音、電磁雜訊以及現場環境聲響，混雜為一種動態聆聽過程。

在當今訊息飽和的世界中，調整廣播頻率旋鈕成為一種發聲行為；廣播的現時現地特性，揭示了我們周圍超越人類感官感知的隱藏訊息。掃描頻譜就像一場聲音漫步，導航於不斷變化的電磁波景觀中。我想要體驗這些無特定對象的訊號和干擾，在被即時、多向溝通主導的世界中喚起一種留有轉圜餘地的存在和連結共感。

Project Visual of “Put ’em in a Box”

“Soundscape of Broadcasting” in Waley Art, Taipei.

參考資料

• Sterling, C. H. (2009). The concise encyclopedia of American radio. Routledge.
• Brecht, B. (1932). The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication. In Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic (pp. 51–53). Hill and Wang.
• Mitchell, W. J. (2003). Me++: The cyborg self and the networked city. MIT Press.