Aesthetics of Transmission

An aesthetics of transmission backgrounds a technical definition of transmission (signal transference from [and to] one, or many, locations by means of signals or radio waves) and foregrounds emergent modalities of embodied perception where meaning flickers on and off. It is an aesthetic that accommodates artworks that deliberately explores an excess of transmission, a signal gone awry, a dissonant transmission that moves and shapeshifts through a series of states to reach its receiver. It is advocated that contemporary art should be considered within these wavelengths as vivacious signals or presences that percolate into a vast unfulfilled cosmic interstellar space where creation flourishes for an infinite eternity. This notion is elaborated upon, especially in regard to ‘tuning in’ in a ‘post-optical’ manner, by way of an account of Delivery for Mr. Assange (2013) an artwork by !Mediengruppe Bitnik. This presentation contends that this work is the apotheosis of an aesthetics of transmission.