Gabrys, Jennifer. 2010. Atmospheres of communication. In: Barbara Crow; Michael Longford and Kim Sawchuk, eds. The Wireless Spectrum: The Politics, Practices, and Poetics of Mobile Media. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 46-59. ISBN 978-0802098931 [Book Section]

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Abstract or Description

Communications have often been understood as bound up with media devices. Wireless communication, however, presents distinct ways of understanding media as it exceeds the devices, interfaces, and wires through which we typically conceive of the medium of communication. Working initially with Marconi’s transmission of wireless signals between Cornwall, England, and Newfoundland, Canada, this chapter charts how that first wireless exchange, ‘dot … dot … dot’, relocates wireless media from the 19th Century ocean to the contemporary city, and multiplies towards a concentration of wireless exchanges that give rise to expanded ecologies of transmission. This chapter explores how an atmospheric mode of communication –like the ether, resonant and electric – delineates urban spaces that are characterised by emanation, presence, and surround. Originally presented in 2005 as part of the ‘Mobile Digital Commons Network’ symposium (http://www.mobilelab.ca/mdcn/index.html), this chapter develops an investigation into wireless cities through reconsidering urban communication and exchange through atmospheric topologies.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	Published as part of the Mobile Digital Commons Network project, Canada.
Related URLs:	Organisation
Related items in GRO:	Gabrys, Jennifer. 2007. Automatic sensation: environmental sensors in the digital city. The Senses & Society, 2(2), pp. 189-200. ISSN 1745-8927 [Article] Gabrys, Jennifer. 2010. Telepathically urban. In: Alexandra Boutros and Will Straw, eds. Circulation and the City: Essays on Urban Culture. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, pp. 48-63. ISBN 9780773536647 [Book Section]
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Sociology
Dates:	Date Event 2010 Published
Funders:	Funding body Funder ID Grant Number FQRSC, Canada (The Digital City project) UNSPECIFIED SSHRC, Canada (Mobile Digital Commons Network, MDCN) UNSPECIFIED
Item ID:	4492
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2011 15:05
Last Modified:	02 Mar 2023 11:05
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/4492

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