Skärgården re-imagines cold war paranoia in the Stockholm archipelago in light and sound.
These rocky islands serve both as the city’s summer playground and, since Viking times, as a defensive maze guarding the sea approach to Stockholm. In the 70s and 80s, worries about encroaching soviet submarines and electronic warfare sparked public controversy leading to the creation of secret military installations in the islands, and even live fire incidents with depth charges being deployed against the possibly imaginary invaders.
The heart of this art installation is a self-organizing wireless mesh network that alludes to Sweden’s early lead in wireless technology with node behavior that mirrors aspects of both the isolation and cooperation of an interconnected system of separate parts.
This work made possible by the Frank C. Springer Family Innovative Faculty Award.