Revue Faire n°48 : Electric Letters

To understand what digital computing does to writing, it is interesting to examine its origins: the treatment of binary code. This transformation of writing by machine and its emergence finds its roots in telegraphs and the advent of electricity in the 19th century. Mastery of this physical phenomenon converts our alphabet into new symbols drawn from electrical signals.

Our writings, initially addressed and interpreted by humans, are completed by a code that can be manipulated by the machine. Both of these worlds are intertwined so that a common code can exist. Each one uses the symbol that corresponds to it: the signal for machines and the sign for humans. This new code operates in the material dimension of the signals and is based on the presence or absence of an electrical current. This minimal activity establishes its form and, paradoxically, allows it to become completely detached from said form.

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