Immaculate Telegraphy

Immaculate Telegraphy was an experiment to build electronic communication from scratch in the wilderness. In summer of 2009, I set out in the mountains of western Montana without any modern tools or materials except information, and constructed a working electric telegraph from materials found on the ground. The experiment showed that electronic communication could have been constructed at any point in history given the right information.

This project was supported by the Eyebeam Honorary Residency, and hosted by the Johnson creek ranch.

The results of a five hour firing loaded with roasted chalcopyrite ore. Nothing. For now, we remain stuck in the neolithic: able to process wood, stone, plant fiber and leather, start and maintain charcoal fire, locate metal ores, but unable to separate them from their compounds. Not hot enough? Not reducing enough? For this first session, I’ve fallen short of the miraculous, but I’ll be back to the furnace in October. I’m sure persistence is what ensured that these things happened in the first place.

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