Ixchel

ix-.-.hel creates a visual and audio link between three communication methods: hands, Morse code, and cell phone messages. The audience is an active participant in the result of the work, by being asked to resend the last text message in their cell phone. The text is used to produce visual and sound events, becoming rhythmic when translated into Morse code. The visual content is generated from human hands images provided by the audience.

The installation is dedicated to Ixchel Solis, the artist's sister, deaf since birth. For both, hand language has been an important communication medium. The cell phone messages have become not only a practical way of communication, but the most common way to send instant emotions at a distance.

The project was developed as a metaphoric link between the hands language, the Morse code, and the communication over the distance. The sms messages became the way of communication between my deaf sister and me. All the text send by the mobile phones of the audience is used to generate visual and acoustic Morse codes. The rhythm of the objects are perceived graphically by the visual audience, and listened by the hearing participants.