SPDT

The switch can be seen not only as the primary interface with digital technology but also as part of its essential make up. In the form of an electronic transistor, the switch provides the irreducible building block for the modern computer. In the form of a mechanical object it takes converting a physical action into a definite digital instruction. SPDT (single pole double throw) draws its inspiration from early computing where these two aspects were closely linked. Before computer keyboards or even punch cards, programmers would enter their code into the machines line by line through vast arrays of switches. This action, the flicking of a switch, spoke directly to the computer in its own binary language: on and off, ones and zeros; an intimate dialogue with no translation needed. In SPDT there is no computer as such, only the switches. Each switch responds to a physical action. Flick down and it illuminates, flick up and it goes dark. Here the viewer is the programmer and the code is on the wall. -Heat Exchanger focuses on the viewer’s presence as an active role in implicating engagement -Dimmer presents a closed circuit where the illumination is the viewer’s movement. Action and reaction are both intimately linked and inseparable.

This item was seen as part of Nic Sandiland's solo exhibition (The blind man’s stick) held in Hastings.