Today marks an important shift in the UK’s digital world.
The digital switchover sees the end of analogue television in the UK. This
morning I woke up to white noise as I switched on my TV to watch the news. This
is more than just a ‘switchover’, though.
The idea that digital technology is making life easier and simpler
is, to some extent, an illusion. Yes, there will hopefully be fewer wires and
cables to deal with, but the complexity and potential that the digital era
presents is more mindboggling than any tangled bunch of wires will ever be – I’m
talking about more than just television now. Today is an important landmark in the
ongoing digital transformation the world is experiencing. Exhibits and events
all around London are currently examining this digital switchover and
discussing what its cultural repercussions are. I visited the AmbikaP3 gallery
today, where artist David Hall’s solo exhibit is held: on display are 1001
television sets that have gradually been losing their analogue connection. Today
they were just a sea of hissing white noise. Hall has turned the event of the
digital switchover into live art, which highlights the “the demise of a
cultural life-cycle shaped by corporate output, signing off at a time of
seismic change” – DH, 2012.
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