Author: Silvia Binda Heiserova (SK)
Multimedia installation

Stratum is an electronic sculpture referencing the design of an antenna tower used for receiving data from satellites. This critical interface points to the imposed paradigm of a unique synchronized time, retrieved from atomic-clock-carrying satellites orbiting around the Earth. It reflects on the question of what determines our temporal reality when we passively rely on standardised technologies of time measurement and distribution. This speculative artwork employs various types of GPS antennas and receiver modules, connected to microcomputers, displays, electromagnetic microphones and speakers, to reveal those aspects of time infrastructure that usually are invisible or hidden.

In computer science, the term ‘stratum’ refers to the level of the Network Time Protocol (NTP) hierarchy (Stratum 0, 1, 2, etc.). Unlike the official strata, which form a chain of synchronised time originating from atomic clocks, the Stratum artwork imagines a layer that operates outside the hierarchy — not to distribute time, but to receive, interpret and transform it. By splitting the time signal into parallel modalities such as raw data, sonification and visual representations, the Stratum sculpture renders time as an aesthetic material. It does not synchronise but listens. It does not distribute but reflects.

Silvia Binda Heiserova is a multimedia artist, researcher and creative coder. Her multidisciplinary artistic practice explores power relations in the digital era from a gender perspective. She is the founder of offDAC, a platform for researching the intersection of feminism, art and technology.

CREDITS
Artwork created during the European Digital Deal Residency hosted by Pro Progressione, Budapest, Hungary.
Co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union

Web: silviabinda.com
Instagram: instagram.com/silvia_binda_heiserova
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