In »Urban Interference«, six radar arrays continuously scan their environment, emitting and receiving imperceptible waves that map the presence, movements, and gestures of both objects and humans. These ultra-high-frequency sensors, more commonly found in autonomous vehicles and security systems, transmit real-time spatial data to a central hub, where it is transformed by the artist into generative sound. Alongside this radar input, Jaspers taps into WiFi, Bluetooth, inner-city radio transmissions, and various radio frequencies to shape the final composition.
All the excellent photos on this page are by Arno Declair.
At its core, »Urban Interference« examines the collision and entanglement between technological systems and public life. The title evokes both literal and metaphorical interference: the electromagnetic noise saturating our surroundings and the socio-political disruptions caused by pervasive sensing infrastructures. The audience is not merely an observer but a participant; each movement reshapes the evolving sonic environment, making the body a live input to the machine’s sensory apparatus. Drawing on theories of spatial aesthetics and media ecology, the work reflects on how cities are increasingly understood not through human perception, but through machinic sensing. It critiques the abstraction of lived experience into data flows, yet rather than resisting this, Jaspers reclaims it, transforming raw signals into a shared, audible presence. The installation proposes a poetic counter-narrative: one where the data trails we leave behind become not mechanisms of control, but instruments of collective resonance, the installation invites us to reconsider how our bodies inhabit public space and how they are seen, sensed and shaped by the invisible architectures of technology. In doing so, it surfaces urgent questions of agency, privacy and participation – reminding us that in the contemporary urban fabric, even silence speaks, and stillness resounds.
The installation of »Urban Interference« was presented at (in)tangible transmissions on 9 August 2025 at Floating University in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Visitors were invited to experience the installation for the afternoon, after which Wouter used the installation and a variety of radio receivers and antennae for a 30 minute live performance, fully consisting of 24 radio different frequencies plus the incoming signals of the audience via the six radar arrays.
