Traffic 2
Details
Traffic 2 is a sound art installation that attempts to create spontaneous real time auditory compositions or improvisations using data gained from network traffic. A secondary aim is to test our understanding of the usage of network data in the public and private sphere. We treat the network as an unseen life form - a body in constant change - born from the usage patterns of the users of the system. By using network traffic as a tool for creating music we in effect illustrate this unseen form.
Unlike traditional musical performances, Traffic 2 does not exist over a set period of time. It is in effect never ending and never the same at any given point in time.
Traffic 2 uses a very simple logic. Pre-created sound files are dynamically played as there corresponding data id number is recorded by our server software. The first step, we use Carnivore to collect network data. Using the "sender ip" we got to call different sounds (or movies). The following is the formula:There are 4 numbers constitute an ip, eg. a.b.c.d, then we transfer it to an unique number using the operation:IPNun=a*16^3+b*16^2+c*16^1+d*16^0 to get an unique number IPNun, then mode it with the number (MovNum) of movies we have, i.e.(IPNun) mod (Movnum)The result is the movie number which we will call in the movies' sequence.