Playa Numbers
Profunda Plaĝa Arta Instalado kaj Malstreĉa Spaco
Deep Playa艺术装置与休闲空间
Deep Playa Art Instalación y Espacio de Relajación
Deep Playa Artwork and Chill Space installation for 2022
Number stations are shortwave radio stations used for openly sending secret information to people using a technique known as One Time Pad. This is a communication method that uses clear text communication with a corresponding and mutable secret key – which is almost unbreakable without physical interception of the key. This was more common in the pre-Internet era – and short wave radio sets could easily tune into the stations, which would repeat in loops at night when the signal would propagate farther.
These numbers could be matched to a code book, or more likely – page numbers and offsets in something that could be carried without suspicion, such as a book or magazine.
Join us in the Profunda Plaĝa in a replica of a Cold War era living room, the center piece of which is a 1947 radio console, which has been updated to contain a powerful sound system, a small computer playing actual numbers station in a loop overnight, material to decode the messages, and a secret hot spot for more information and interaction with the site.
Playa Numbers is an actual living room in the Deep Playa, playa 1950’s era radio broadcasts and Playa Numbers recordings from 1950 through the 1980’s.
From dusk until dawn – Burners can relax on the benches and wait for a new dawn.
The central point of Playa Numbers is an actual 1947 console radio set retrofitted to play using a modern sound system.
Playa Number is stocked with actual antiques – most of which will be destroyed after the Burn unless claimed. This is a Queen Ann chair hand made in the 1920s.
Design by the CAT Camp Team