From lighthouses to barcodes

Cliona Harmey is an artist based in Dublin, Ireland, whose work explores hybrid forms of technology and their histories. She of ten combines sculpture with data and attempts to make ephemeral digital information more tangible or physical. In particular, she has been ref lecting on artefacts and histories of technological communication systems within a maritime environment and has in the past made works inspired by the stories of Marconi, Brunel, and mariner Robert Halpin who was responsible for the laying of the original transatlantic cable. She also engages with similar contemporary concerns in the field of aviation and climate transformation. The following text explores the lighthouse as an originary form of infrastructure1 with links to the ubiquitous barcode and modern, controlled spaces such as the airport. It also highlights the lighthouse as a node in a global network where the ability to regulate and direct light historically enabled safer shipping, which was linked to the advent of the modern age and the acceleration of globalisation.