Abstract

The talk by Marko Peljhan explores the tensions between the emancipatory and destructive potentials of technological systems for data aggregation and distribution, radio and related media fields. From the history of the satellite, life in the Arctic, to the realities of a modern battlefield.

The wars on the territory of former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1999 have transformed multiple landscapes on multiple scales. These range from deeply emotional, personal and psychic, to the technological, techno-political and even strategic fields. As the wars started in 1991, one of the first visible and tangible consequences was that the skies went silent. Air traffic in one of the more congested air corridors in Europe stopped. No contrails were visible for months, and when they reappeared, they were a consequence of military, UN or other war related traffic. Air traffic control communications all but ceased. But one particular landscape that accelerated in the other direction almost to full saturation was the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum. Telecommunications suddenly became a vital, congested and deadly tool in the hands of the opposing military factions.

• Marko Peljhan (SI) Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.

Full text (PDF) p.  504-505