Wireless Drift / Tim Shaw

This workshop and soundwalk focuses on listening to the wireless communication signals that surround us. Using small devices built with cheap ESP32 microcontrollers, participants will explore how Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks can be sensed and translated directly into sound. The devices scan nearby wireless traffic and sonify Wi-Fi packets in real time. The method is deliberately simple: packet length is mapped directly to the microcontroller’s analog output. As network activity increases, the sound becomes louder, denser and more complex, making the intensity of local wireless communication immediately audible. After a short introduction and demonstration, participants will take part in a guided walk using the devices. Moving through the city, the group will listen to how the sonic texture of wireless networks changes from place to place, revealing hidden patterns of connectivity and infrastructure. The workshop was developed through Tim Shaw’s fellowship at the Forum Basiliense which investigates the borderscapes between Switzerland, France and Germany. By listening to different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, the walk offers a way to experience the city through the invisible flows of data that constantly pass through it.
Tim Shaw is an artist and researcher working with sound, light, and communication media to create performances, installations, and site-responsive interventions. His practice engages environmental sound art, digital media, media archaeology, walking practices, and experimental instrument building. His projects explore hidden forms of communication in the environment, including insect sound worlds, augmented soundwalks, high-voltage instruments, radio transmissions through trees, and musical material extracted from rocks. Shaw’s work is presented internationally at festivals and in diverse locations—from forests, caves, and mountains to museums and galleries. He has collaborated with artists including Chris Watson and Phill Niblock. In 2026 he will be a Forum Basiliense Fellow at University of Basel and will lead the Meteorological Media Spark project at Zurich University of the Arts.
https://tim-shaw.info/

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