I Music to Your Ears
Scanner mixes cell phone conversations and ambient
sounds to create a unique musical experience.
By Mr. Greg Zobel
Since 1992 Robin Rimbaud has walked a unique artistic path: He
uses surveillance technology to create intriguing art and enter
tainment. His most noted works consist of musical pieces built out
of scanned snippets of telephone dialogue, hence his moniker
“Scanner.” Scanner listens to the airwaves and records the most
interesting conversations, edits out any identifying information (like
last names, addresses and phone numbers), and mutates the voice
so that the original speaker is not identifiable. Thus while the
speakers become anonymous, their passions, interests, sentiments
more interested in entertainment and education about sound and
technology than he is about blackmail or invading our privacy.
Scanner is constantly exploring new ideas, media and approach
es to technology. Unlike many artists who become fixated with a
specific path or vision, he applies new developments as fast as they
arise. A visit to one of his web sites does not reveal the average
tedium of band gigs, news and boring pictures. Rather you can lis
ten to samples, experience how he sees the Internet as a practical
art form and learn about the mind that will gladly turn your phone
and conversations become
very public. Scanner has
released albums every
year since 1992: Spore
(1995), Sulpher (1996)
and The Quick and the
Dead (2000) are some of
the best known.
While the speakers become anonymous,
their passions, interests, sentiments and
conversations become very public.
calls into art. Check out scanner
dot.com, scannertonne.co.uk and
massobservation.co.uk.
Recently Scanner’s been work
ing on art installations and muse
um presentations. His most inter
esting piece was based on the
nursery rhyme London Bridges Falling Down. Following the route
Most people regard their phone conversations as private and
privileged. Given the powerful surveillance technology available on
the market—and the proliferation of cellular phones and their use
in public spaces—this is clearly an illusion. How private is an argu
ment when it takes place in a restaurant? About as private as cell
phone calls made in public. Fortunately for the public Rimbaud is
laid out oy the rhyme, scanner walked and recorded the conversa
tions and sounds found along that path. He also took photo
graphs. After recording many hours of sounds he created a sound
track. The next step was to fill a double decker tour bus with
tourists and play them the “sounds of London Bridge" while driving
them along the route. Surveillance, sampling, interactive sculpture,
nursery rhymes and a tour all combined into one experience.
Rimbaud’s experiments and art are garnering international inter
est. In November 2000 he went on a seven-day tour of Europe,
America and Australia that combined art installations, lectures and
live performances. •
Downloads of the Week
iMesh
Platform: PC
iMesh is a peer-to-peer file sharing service that helps you find
audio, video and picture files on the Net. Search the comput
ers of other iMeshers for files you want to download. It’s a
similar idea to Napster, except you get files directly from other
users instead of through central servers. New version 2 beta
features include chat mode, better skins and a Media Manager.
Download: imesh.com/index.cfm
Reckless Drivin’
Platform: Mac
The goal of this driving game, is to leave destruction and dis
aster in your wake as you drive your car through different lev
els. A sequel to the Burning Rubber game, improvements
include a new graphics engine and realistic skidding, tire tracks
and reactions to different road surfaces—including highways,
deserts and ice. You also get to ram into other cars!
Download: spaceports.com/~reckless ($12 registration fee)
© Spiros Politis/RetnaUK
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