Digital Data Transmission
Sep 2026
This textual artwork records the moment of myself walking into two people having a private conversation in Studio 1 of the Art Building on the Whiteknights campus of the University of Reading. The conversation was taking place between Birhanu Manaye Menter (MA Fine Art student) and Abeba Negash (Birhanu's mum). They were speaking in their native Amharic language.
The three people invovled in the impromptu three-way interaction are each represented by a 'data stream' in the photographs below.
This work was collaborative in the sense that Birhanu and Abeba contributed their own version of the incident. Birhanu also chose the colour of cables associated with Abeba's and his own text (stream 2 and stream 3 respectively).
| Image: | Digital Data Transmission (all 3 Streams) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
15 pieces of paper with printed and written text (3 streams) attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
Data Stream 1
| Image: | Stream 1 of Digital Data Transmission |
| Date: | Aug 2026 |
| Medium: |
Six pieces of paper with printed and written text attached to six network cables on wall.
45cm x 115cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 1 Digital Data Transmission (packet 1 of 6) |
| Date: | Aug 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 1 Digital Data Transmission (packet 2 of 6) |
| Date: | Aug 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 1 Digital Data Transmission (packet 3 of 6) |
| Date: | Aug 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 1 Digital Data Transmission (packet 4 of 6) |
| Date: | Aug 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 1 Digital Data Transmission (packet 5 of 6) |
| Date: | Aug 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 1 Digital Data Transmission (packet 6 of 6) |
| Date: | Aug 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
Data Stream 2
The following text is written by Abeba Negash. It is written in her native Amharic language. The English translation is available here. Abeba was in Ethiopia during the conversation.
| Image: | Stream 2 Digital Data Transmission (packet 1 of 5) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 2 Digital Data Transmission (packet 2 of 5) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 2 Digital Data Transmission (packet 3 of 5) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 2 Digital Data Transmission (packet 4 of 5) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 2 Digital Data Transmission (packet 5 of 5) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
Data Stream 3
The following text is written by Birhanu Manaye Menter. It is written in his native Amharic language. The English translation is available here.
| Image: | Stream 3 Digital Data Transmission (packet 1 of 4) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 3 Digital Data Transmission (packet 2 of 4) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 3 Digital Data Transmission (packet 3 of 4) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Stream 3 Digital Data Transmission (packet 4 of 4) |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Medium: |
Paper with printed and written text attached to network cables on wall.
12cm x 15cm x 2cm |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Wall Text of Digital Data Transmission |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |
| Image: | Visitor viewing Digital Data Transmission |
| Date: | Sep 2026 |
| Location: | Art Building, UoR. |