Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox is a working demonstration of my next-generation laser eruv system. An eruv (pronounced ey-roov) is a symbolic boundary erected around religious Jewish communities throughout the world. While an eruv is typically constructed with poles and wires, Modern Orthodox employs a combination of low-power lasers, wifi surveillance cameras and graffiti, as a way of designating sacred volumes of space in urban areas.
What is an Eruv?
An eruv is an ancient
architectural construct that stems from the observation of the Sabbath, the sacred day
of rest that includes a prohibition against certain kinds of work,
including the carrying of objects outside of one's home, or private
domain. The presence of an eruv allows some carrying on the Sabbath by
symbolically converting the shared public space within its boundaries
into the shared private space of a community. In this way, observant
Jews can carry objects such as keys or prayer books while acting in
accordance with sacred Talmudic principles.
My
Next-Generation Laser Eruv System
Because the physical integrity
of an eruv is essential to its symbolic function, a breach in any
portion of it renders it useless, which is why the entire circumference
of an eruv, usually miles in length, is customarily inspected prior to
every Sabbath. My laser eruv, however, which relies on a continuous
stream of photons rather than cords and wires, is not as susceptible to
permanent breakage. A branch of a tree, for example, may impede the flow
of photons but will not permanently damage the eruv apparatus.
Additionally, surveillance cameras are used to monitor the laser eruv
connections from a remote location, allowing eruv managers to identify
obstructions more efficiently. The content of these video transmissions are
displayed at Eyebeam as part of the installation of this work.
Crucifix NG Compatibility
Modern Orthodox is designed to
work in conjunction with, or rather to absorb, the signals of other
religious devices working within the boundary of the eruv. Crucifix NG, for example, which
transmits the Christian Lord's Prayer at approximately the same
bandwidth (about 900 Mhz), will to some extent disrupt the eruv
transmission and appear as noise within the video signal. In this way,
the presence of multiple religious devices will produce a mixed signal,
as opposed to being allocated to separate uninterruptable channels.
Related work: Cemetery 2.0 | eRuv
by Elliott Malkin — at Eyebeam, June 29 - July 15, 2006
Watch the VIDEO about Modern Orthodox
Special thanks to David Neff for engineering and photography.
