Aura Satz

Aura Satz premieres a new film and sound installation that centres on the invention of 'frequency hopping', patented in 1941 by Hollywood star Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil.

The 'Secret Communication System' enabled radio-controlled guidance of torpedoes by synchronising frequency changes in transmitter and receiver, thus avoiding enemy detection. It drew on Antheil's failed attempt to synchronise 16 pianolas in his 1924 avant-garde masterpiece Ballet Mécanique and has since become the basis for today's spread-spectrum technology, widely used in wireless telephone and wi-fi technology.