Camouflaging Electromagnetic Networks as Techno-Habitats for Humans, Plants, Animals, and Machines

Abstract

Abstract “Digitalization is coming” is the mantra of our society. In recent decades, the environment has been transformed into a high-frequency electromagnetic field by the increasing number of antennas. At present, the roll-out of the new generation of 5G wireless networks means that urban spaces will be littered with thousands of new antennas, invisibly hidden in all sorts of housings such as street lamps, advertising pillars, and neon signs. This development is not stopping at the countryside either. This essay uses media theory and examples from art and technology to speculate on how the changes in urban space and atmosphere can be understood, but also why 5G is a perfect case for techno-criticism and conspiracy theories alike. The waves of wireless networks are spreading to reach even the smallest niches, driven by mobile telephony and wireless Internet. In the future, the environment in which we are immersed and which pervades us will always be an electric field flowing through us. Like any other radio network, 5G is invisible and abstract, and no one can see the artificially generated high-frequency radiation. At the same time, almost all of us have a sensor in our pocket with our mobile phone, telling us where the network is and how strong the radiation is.