Wireplex, an Extended Flow of Data as Distributed Sound Sculpture Luis Arandas Faculdade de Engenharia e Universidade do Porto Braga Media Arts luis.arandas@gmail.com José Alberto Gomes Portuguese Catholic University CITAR School of Arts Braga Media Arts jagomes@porto.ucp.pt Rui Penha Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo INESC-TEC Porto ruipenha@esmae.ipp.pt ABSTRACT This article presents a networked sound sculpture made us- ing web technologies. The intervention described explores the generation of content in large numbers of distributed interfaces with potentially large distances across the globe. Using Akson audio-visual (AV) environment, a distributed connection is maintained to all machines that remain pub- licly linked. We explore and present Wireplex as an artistic use of the Internet creating an irregular platform to repro- duce the artwork. 1. SOUND AND SCULPTURE Referring to Marshall McLuhan’s (1964) quote that the human being has already extended his senses and nerves by the various media [7], we present Wireplex. This artwork explores an automatic and pre-structured version of Akson AV environment, in order to generate and collect constant streams of data over the internet. Explor- ing detailed information related to the geolocation of the machine connected, it aims to create a complex structure of both resonant devices linked by the cloud. This text also re- flects on digital networked systems as means of sound diffu- sion, reiterating some common practices in sound sculpture using contemporary technology. Using the practice present in the twentieth century as a base reference for the development of this project, we start by mentioning the great change that existed in the prac- tice of sculpture as art [2, 3, 5, 9]. As said by Rosalind E. Krauss (1979), surprising artworks have come to be called sculpture. "narrow corridors with TV monitors at the ends; large photographs documenting country hikes; mirrors placed at strange angles in ordinary rooms; temporary lines cut into the floor of the desert". As she says, nothing can be an em- pirical motive that allows anyone to call sculpture to any- thing. Unless, that is, the category can be made to become almost infinitely malleable [9]. When the practice includes sound as material for artis- tic expression, we underline two different positions that the author can take in the development of the artwork. The materialisation of sound into a three-dimensional physical Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Attribution: owner/author(s). Web Audio Conference WAC-2019, December 4–6, 2019, Trondheim, Norway. c  2019 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). object as a sculpture derived from the analysis of the acous- tic phenomenon, and the development of three-dimensional objects as sound producers in space [4, 6]. We have built this system in a way that respects both practices by creating analogies in the technical development of the platform and its reproduction between various de- vices. We acquire data from each connection and use it to produce sound, treating those devices as objects of sound reproduction in space. 2. REMOTE INTERACTION Referring to the development and historical importance of networked collaboration using digital connections in the artistic practice [1], we start to define the system that sup- ports the proposed artwork, Wireplex. During the installation it will be possible to access the http://www.akson.xyz domain from anywhere in the world as long as it is done by a device with Internet. If the device allows, and can participate in the intended website will then be one of the public links that define the sound sculpture. This volatile feature regarding the change of shape of the artwork, allowing its existence in a distributed way will be a lever for the exploration of different playback setups. As said before, this system is a generative exploration of the Akson AV environment. It has a purpose-built graphical system populated with geometries that allow interaction via click on the screen and an audio system that includes both a synthesizer and a low background. The way the audience interacts with their device is through the touchscreen, this way notes will be played on all connected devices. The way both the notes that are played and the attributes of the two systems that make Wireplex are defined is by the geolocation of the device [8]. A two-dimensional matrix has been created that divides the position of the connections into predefined areas using latitudinal and longitudinal degrees. Static characteristics are thus assigned to the various points on the planet, making a machine in Japan have different sound and visual properties from California. The development of this project is directly related to the aesthetic AV result and the intrinsic indeterminism present in the means of reproduction. In this way, a metaphor is made to the artistic phenomenon, as an event that exists only from the relationship established by the public or the author, in this case with a digital interface.