Signals is a collection of algebraic poems written in Lincos, the mathematical language designed for communicating with extra-terrestrial intelligences. Each poem is accompanied by exoplanet search imagery derived from Kepler telescope data.
Lincos itself was formulated by Hans Freudenthal in 1960, and is less a fully formed language than a set of principles for using mathematics and logic to communicate information beyond abstract concepts. Freudenthal’s chief focus, in this regard, was in conveying scientific understandings of the observable universe and to offer some insights into human behaviour and life on Earth more broadly. Freudenthal chose these particular foundations on the premise that a grasp of numerical relations were the only likely point of shared understanding between human and extraterrestrial intelligences.
Each poem in the collection is depicted using an adaptation of a noise-resistant graphical alphabet designed in 1999 by astrophysicists Yvan Dutil and Stéphane Dumas, which they used for their own Lincos radio message to the cosmos.
Exhibition
In November 2024, Signals was exhibited as part of the Milky War Tour Exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma | Finnish National Gallery. The audiovisual rendition of Signals featured, modelled to evoke a frequency shift-keyed radio transmission, alongside a few posters showcasing the visualised material. The audiovisual can be viewed below on YouTube, and more information concerning the exhibition can be found at this link here.
Publications
In March 2022, Signals was published by Guillemot Press. It is now in its second print run, and can be purchased at this link here.
In June 2022, Signals received mention in an article for The Bookseller, available at this link here.
In June 2022, Becky Ferreira wrote an article on Signals for VICE (Motherboard): “How to Write Poetry to Communicate With Aliens”, available at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgpqxk/how-to-write-poetry-to-communicate-with-aliens.
