Arthur Lucchesi’s RWM MK1 is an electronic synthesiser that captures radio signals and allows them to be processed and remixed in real time. The spectrum of the waves captured is greater than the classic AM/FM standard; the device is therefore able to intercept the electromagnetic noise generated in the environment and returns it to the acoustic band. The process devised by the artist is openly inspired by a number of elements: Jocelyn Bell’s discovery of the pulsar neutron star, initially recognised as a pulsating radio source; NASA’s SETI programme created to read (and transmit) radio signals beyond the solar system, such as the mysterious Wow signal recorded in 1977; the works of musicians such as Tim Hecker, famous for reworking white noise into sound; and finally Gustav Holst and his suite for large orchestra inspired by planets and astrology. All these references have in common the sonic exploration of space and its capacity to hold presences and relations that are apparently imperceptible if not by decoding the waves emitted. The effect of such a device is to trigger an irresistible urge to hunt for sound. Perhaps also because despite their invisibility, sound waves may paradoxically be one of the last directly observable physical bulwarks in a visually deceptive information ecosystem in which it is increasingly difficult to trace tangible sources beyond their representation. Chiara Ciociola