Thesis - NYU ITP
Duban Morales 
5th Meeting



The cloud ?



Duban Morales
4th meeting 

Early Explorations




Duban Morales
3rd  Meeting
Date 10/08/2025

Electromagnetic Waves,  why they matter 

Expose the invisible infrastructures behind ordinary life in a Playful, tactile way. NETWORK OF OUR LIVES

Example -  sending a message.  The message travels through your carrier’s Short Message Service Center (SMSC), which acts like a post office  it stores, routes, and forwards the text to the recipient’s carrier, and then to their phone.
For Internet messages (like iMessage): The message is encrypted and sent to Apple’s or WhatsApp’s servers. Those servers determine where the recipient is and forward the message through the fastest route.

Your Phone
   ↓
(Cell tower or Wi-Fi router)  
   ↓
Carrier / Internet Network
   ↓
Messaging Service Server (Apple, WhatsApp, etc.)
   ↓
Recipient’s Network
   ↓                     ↑  
Recipient’s Phone


“if you could see all wavelengths simultaneously, there would be so much light bouncing about that you wouldn’t see anything. Or rather, you would see everything and nothing simultaneously. The excess of light would just leave everything in a senseless glow. Chances are, if this ability were suddenly switched on—if your brain underwent some miraculous metamorphosis and you could suddenly see all of the electromagnetic spectrum—you would go into shock and die. Your brain simply wouldn’t be able to interpret the information it was receiving. If you were lucky, you would instantly go blind.” -Jolene Creighton.


lumenarius (LEFT) &  teamLab Borderless (RIGHT)

Duban Morales
2nd Meeting
Date 09/24/2025

Research Findings + Refined Inquiry Space Diagram


References 
Martin, Bea
Martin, Bea. “Machinic Assemblies.” In Drawing Attention: Architecture in the Age of Social Media, edited by Hamza Shaikh, [pages]. London: RIBA Books, 2023.

———. “Publications.” Speculative Assemblies. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://speculativeassemblies.com/publications/.

———. Instagram profile. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.instagram.com/bgommartin/


Cook, Peter

“Peter Cook exhibition ‘Cities’ explores colourful urban visions at Richard Saltoun Gallery,” Wallpaper, published July 21, 2023, accessed October 6, 2025 , https://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/peter-cook-exhibition-cities-london-uk.

Sadler, Simon. Archigram: Architecture Without Architecture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://monoskop.org/images/f/ff/Sadler_Simon_Archigram_Architecture_without_Architecture.pdf.


Moholy-Nagy, László


Moholy-Nagy, László. Light Prop for an Electric Stage (Light-Space Modulator). 1930. Metal, glass, and plastic with motor and lights. Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin.
Moholy-Nagy, László. Vertical Black, Red, Blue. 1945. Oil on plexiglass. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.
Moholy-Nagy, László. Vision in Motion. Chicago: Paul Theobald, 1947.

Masson, André. Ophelia. 1937. Oil and sand on canvas.

Rubin, William, and Carolyn Lanchner. André Masson. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1976.
https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_2000_300297560.pdf

Kusama, Yayoi


Yayoi Kusama, The Hope of the Polka Dots Buried in Infinity Will Eternally Cover the Universe, 2019 at Kusama's solo exhibition Yayoi Kusama: All About Love Speaks Forever at Fosun Foundation, Shanghai
Kusama, Yayoi. Infinity Mirrored Room — The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away. 2013. LED lights, mirrors, wood, and water. The Broad Museum, Los Angeles. 

TeamLab


teamLab. Sketch Aquarium: Connected World. Interactive digital installation, 2013–present. teamLab Future Park. Accessed October 2025. https://futurepark.teamlab.art/en/playinstallations/sketch_aquarium_connected_world/.


Key words:
Deconstructivism
playful interactions
tangible object(s) 
anamorphic 
responsive
systems
scale
data as form
The cloud is anything but a cloud 
Deployable Architecture 

Idea(s):
Designing an exhibition space
Magnifying a system

Ask:
What do I want people to understand, feel, or do in this space?
I want to reveal how invisible systems (digital, mechanical, or perceptual) can be made visible through physical, time-based interactions

 Revealing hidden systems through physical, time-based, and experiences

making the invisible visible, the infrastructures, signals, and systems that structure daily life but escape perception.

How can hidden technological systems be materialized?
evolution of communication ?



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_wave#:~:text=Animation%20of%20a%20half%2Dwave,networks%20and%20many%20other%20applications.

Animation of a half-wave dipole antenna radiating radio waves, showing the electric field lines. The antenna in the center is two vertical metal rods connected to a radio transmitter (not shown). The transmitter applies an alternating electric current to the rods, which charges them alternately positive (+) and negative (−). Loops of electric field leave the antenna and travel away at the speed of light; these are the radio waves. In this animation the action is shown slowed down tremendously.

Technical:
Hu, Tung-Hui. A Prehistory of the Cloud. [PDF on Are.na]. Accessed October 6, 2025. https://www.are.na/block/21650887. 

Timo Arnall - Immaterials: Light painting WiFi


 

Duban Morales
1st Meeting
Date 09/04/2025

Inquiry  space + inspiration repository



Past Work