Light Phone
In September 2026, I spent ten days in upstate New York as Wave Farm’s Transmission Artist in Residence. During my stay, I used Wave Farm’s unique radio equipment and library to develop Light Phone, a research project exploring hyper-local and DIY communication networks as a speculative investigation into alternatives to the monopolies of contemporary telecommunications.
Inspired by Lori Emerson’s Radical Technology Sourcebook, I investigated the ‘Astro Phone’ or ‘Light Telephone’ - - devices developed in the 1960s that transmitted sound via modulated infrared light. While infrared transmission remains common (for data rather than audio transmission) in everyday technologies such as remote controls, its potential as a creative and communicative medium has been largely unexplored.
Building on my ongoing work with homemade radio receivers and transmitters, I produced two Light Phones, following a design developed for me by my friend and electronics guru Prasanth Visweswaran, whose technical support during the project was invaluable. Using the Light Phones, I explored the quality of audio that could be transmitted through and received by these devices, and how infrared transmission produced a different ‘grain’ compared to other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Audio recording formed a key part of the project, alongside experiments with transmission range.
I documented these experiments using an infrared filter over my camera lens, and with16mm infrared-sensitive black-and-white film stock, exploring how analogue film could render otherwise invisible wireless transmissions perceptible. These visual experiments considered whether it might be possible, in some sense, to see a telephone call, making the infrastructures we depend upon more tangible. I used film to capture texture and light, and over the coming months will produce a short film using this material, exploring ideas of infra - the infraordinary, infra-listening - through this device.
Whilst at Wave Farm, I also produced an accessible, DIY guide to making and fixing the devices. Sharing technical knowledge is central to my practice, and the zine proposed further experiments that could be undertaken using the Light Phone. I left a transmitter and receiver at Wave Farm, along with the zine, for future Wave Farm residents to explore. My experiments with infrared transmission and my research into the ‘infra’ are ongoing.
DEVELOPED BY DUMASTAR
Tags:
residency
Year:
2026