Spectrumscape: The Space of Wirelessness

The radio signals transmitted by wireless technologies create a form of space that is pervasive but intangible to human senses. The multiplicity of radio waves is most commonly represented through the trope of ‘radio spectrum’, but this paper argues thai this construct is too limited to communicate the extensive presence of radio waves in the environment, their relationship with human subjectivity, and the technical, economic, political and cultural dimensions of wireless transmission and reception. The space of wirelessness is conceptualised in this paper as a ‘spectrumscape’, a dynamic presence in the environment that is also a dimension of global flows, imbued with relationships of power and financial interests.