At the present time there are many areas of the UK where no cell phone signal can be accessed. Such areas, on the one hand, represent nothing more than a failing of the cellular network - breaks in the infrastructure that will eventually be rectified by future generations of cell phone technology. But on the other, the dead zones can be seen as pockets of resistance, territories where the drive towards connectivity has yet to penetrate.

In the late 18th century the Wye Valley held particular significance for those in search of Picturesque beauty. At the time of the industrial revolution improvements to methods of production and the transportation of goods began to alter both the appearance of the landscape and the way in which the rural environment was regarded. Followers of the Picturesque travelled to the wilder regions of Britain in the hope of experiencing a return to nature in its rawer form. As an aesthetic effect, however, the Picturesque always required the viewer to remain at a distance and not to be absorbed into the object of desire. Outside the frame, the viewer could enjoy the picture with a sense of being an empathetic, omniscient observer.

On the Wye Valley tour described by William Gilpin in 1783, tourists could enjoy such 'pictures' as Goodrich Castle and Tintern Abbey. Crumbling and swathed in ivy, Picturesque ruins invited a melancholic contemplation of the eventual end of human endeavour. Today the Wye Valley has lost much of its Picturesque charm: a sense of industry is commonplace; Tintern Abbey has been shorn of its ivy; and nature, by and large, is kept neatly in its place. And yet in one respect a sense of wilderness remains. Here and there dead zones in the cell phone network indicate that the imposition of order is incomplete. South of Tintern Abbey, between Wyndecliff Wood and Denne Hill, a large dead zone is known to exist. This project will be a survey of that region. Signal strength will be measured to map the extent of dead zone and the region will be photographically documented. Using battery packs and a portable router a 3G broadcast will be made from the edge of the dead zone - as close as it is possible to get without the signal being lost. At the edge of the dead zone signal strnegth is weak and the broadcast will be reduced to well below one frame per second. The broadcast will appear on this page at the times given below.

April 9, 10 and 11 2013 between 3pm-4pm.