Centralised computing has given way to a distributed model, where multiple nodes or processors work together to provide large-scale resources to deal with complex challenges. Rather than a desktop or powerful in-house server, we use mobile gadgets and cloud computing, relying on a vast array of scalable networks that convey information to each other and to us.

 

The way in which we absorb and process information has similarly changed to allow more open-ended, borderless systems, many of which rely on open-sourced information and common knowledge resources. Wikipedia is an excellent example which has displaced traditional, single-author sources to become the default global encyclopaedia. Similarly, social media sites such as X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook and Weibo have become news and information sources that allow for omni-directional information flows, as consumers become simultaneously producers, commentators and algorithm-feeders. Originality, so prized in the Age of Enlightenment, has become less important than the ability to reappropriate and remix, best exemplified by memes and Tik Tok videos.

 

Reflecting the schizophrenic role-playing of the contemporary networked self, Electromagnetic Room attempted to readdress the notion of performer, composer and audience as separate agents, instead injecting porosity into these roles through a participatory system built upon multiple distributed interfaces for gestural interaction.

 

The classical piano performance, traditionally a hallowed platform cementing the hierarchy of composer-performer-audience, became instead a space for collective listening and sound-making. As roles blurred, the fourth wall between performers, performance and audience disappeared.