To give into the hands of another (2026)

In 1974 the Arecibo message was transmitted into space as a greeting from Earth.

Perhaps we have not been paying attention, but it does not seem at if the message has been answered yet.

The original message consisted of 1,679 characters which was launched as frequency modulated binary code, and contained information about life on

Earth, DNA, and our position in the solar system etc.

Within this work the binary code of the original message is yet again sent out into deep space, but this time performed as a paradiddle, launched from a self-playing snare drum, triggered when a human being approaches.

Here the zeros and ones of the binary code, become left and right hands – L and R – shifting the message

from radio waves to rhythm and physical gesture.

The paradiddle - deriving from the Greek paradídōmi, meaning “to give into the hands of another” is a drumming exercise aiming for securing a precise and even drum stroke, and it is linked to the snare drum and its history of being an instrument used for signaling gestures within military contexts.

Here the snare drum would be used as a way of signaling when to march, when to wake up, when to retreat etc - and hence the work latches on to the snare drum as a signaling device - only this time carrying another kind of message.

While the original Arecibo message functioned as a calling card from Earth, this version comes with an addition; at the end of the code, a new sequence repeats the word HELP seven times.

Dear extraterrestials - can you please come and save us from our own mess? - or perhaps it is the snare drum, asking to be saved from us humans?

A cry for help across interstellar space.

Below

-  the binary code as paradiddle

 - the work installed in dialogue with Ufærdiggørelser Struer Museum 2026