iz paehr

Writing Telegrams to Fungi, Sending Bytes Across Trees

The announcement image for the network walk is a photo collage: In the background, a photo shows the ruins of the Central Telegraph Office with its two archways and small windows, as well as a small palm trees growing in front. From the left, a cut-out image of lichens on the bark of a tree enter the collage, with moss and lichens creating a rough visual texture. Atop, red lines are drawn that partially overlap with the fine dark internet cables from the photo of the Telegraph Office below. Atop the collage, a font reads the event information: Writing Telegrams to Fungi, Sending Bytes across Trees. A Network Walk at Cubbon Park with Iz Paehr and Biplab Mahato. November 17, 2024, 02.-04.00pm, Meeting Point: Central Telegraph Office (exact location after registration). No registration fee. Limiated places. Below, the logos of Srishti Manipal, Shroomin, the metro, Art in Transit, NCBS, the bangaloREsidency and Goethe Insitut are positioned on a white background.

Network Walk / Workshop at Cubbon Park Bengaluru with Biplab Mahato, 17.11.2024. Realized during the BangaloREsidency@The Archives at NCBS.

During this workshop and walk at and around Cubbon Park, we searched for and traced networks in the ground, between trees and across buildings. Networks are all around us: From digital devices that connect (some of) us to global communication structures, to the fine threads of mycorrhizal networks that interconnect the very trees that in turn hold internet cables channeling zeros and ones. Touching smartphones, lichens, soils and cables, we sensed into layered networked ecologies, and learned about their (hir-her-his)stories by visiting the ruins of a building that once organised telegraph communications. Going deeper, we moved underground and played with sending signals through the tunnels that move people through the city's soil and visited Art in Transit. Instead of understanding these networks as separate, we payed attention to where they meet and interlink in the form of fluid and sticky networked ecologies. We invited 25 participants to join us in encountering mycelium, telegraph and digital networks. Together, we connected with soils, fungi, cables and internet protocols to shape whats kinds of networks we dared to dream towards.

01 - Following a Cable at the Central Telegram Office

We began our walk at the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) to learn about the history of telegraphy in Bengaluru and India. As a first activation, everyone picked up a pen to follow a material manifestation of internet infrastructure: cables. The CTO is covered in internet and electricity cables. Following one cable with our pens each, we were led to a nearby tree.

A group of people stand in an outdoor urban area, surrounded by buildings and greenery, with the Central Telegraph Office to their left. They are attentively facing Iz who is talking about the history of the CTO. The setting includes a partially constructed high-rise and trees.

A person holds a sheet of paper from a zine that Iz has made for the network walk into the camera. They have drawn the Central Telegraph Office and the internet cables that span across it onto the front page with blue ink. Above their drawing there is a historic photo of the Central Telegraph Office printed, as well as the words ‚Follow one cable with your pen‘.

The workshop group is walking into Cubbon Park. The photo shows 10 South Indian people wearing light summer clothing. They are moving underneath of a large tree, the sunlight is warm and welcoming.

A photo shows the crown of a tree. Amidst the branches, internet and electricity cables form what looks like a nest. The chaos of the cables is surrounded by the green of the leafs.

02 - Measuring the Size of a Hotspot at Cubbon Park

At Cubbon Park, we chose a tree and opened a hotspot with one of our phones. Using strings, we then moved away from the hotspot in pairs until our phone's could not connect to it anymore. This way, we mapped an otherwise invisible network into the park.

A group of people gathered on a lush green lawn in a park, surrounded by tall trees, are using strings to measure the dimensions of a hotspot. Some are standing while others sit. Papers are scattered on the grass. The setting is relaxed, with individuals engaging in conversation and the workshop activities.

A group of people at Cubbon Park participate in a workshop activity in which they measure the dimensions of a hotspot. They are holding ropes stretched between trees. The park features tall trees, dense foliage, and a carpet of grass.

Blue and yellow strings are tied around the rough bark of a tree. The strings extend outwards. The tree bark is textured with deep grooves. In the background, there is a patch of green grass and brown soil.

03 - Secrets of the Soil: Finding Fungal Networks

Within our hotspot area, we then looked for fungal traces: Fruiting bodies, mycelium, lichens. Biplab offered an introduction into fungal communication and networking practices.

A magnifying glass enlarges the center of the image and puts mushrooms with small white caps into focus.

A closeup photo shows lichens on a wooden branch. They form thick, patchy structures in a turquoise color with violet dark spots atop.

04 - Connecting the Dots at Art in Transit

Our final stop was at Art in Transit, a gallery space in the Cubbon Park metro station. On a fabric, I had painted all known internet landing stations as dots. Together, we connected them in new ways by using yarn, leafs, bark, fungi and other found materials.

This photo shows a close up of a linen fabric that someone has painted black dots on top of. These dots form clusters, but it’s difficult to name any definite shape they form. The cap of a green pen enters the image from below. This photo was taken during a workshop in which participants later connected the dots, which represent internet landing stations, with pens and yarn.

A large piece of grey-brown linen fabric is photographed from above. Black painted dots in the upper half of the fabric represent internet landing stations and participants have connected them in new ways by using yarn and natural materials. Strings in many colours enter and exit the fabric, forming an embroidered network. A leaf, pieces of bark, and knotted strings have been knitted into the fabric as well and form nodes. Across the fabric, pens, needles and balls of unused yarn are scattered.

In parallel, Biplab introduced participants to the fungi and mycelium structures we had found in the park. Some of these found networks were embroidered into the internet(s) fabric above.

During the workshop at Art in Transit, four people are looking at lichens placed on a wooden table. Biplab, the person on the right, is using a UV light to show something to the others.

Photographed through a golden magnifying glass, lichens on a piece of bark appear larger and in green and grey colors.

Photos: Sudha Palepu, Iz Paehr