16 hours

2025. Stereo Sound Installation. 2 Channels.

"16 hours" is the time needed to transmit the first transatlantic telegraphic message between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan in 1858. The installation sound these two messages with simulated voices.

Images:

(1) Queen Victoria. Tickertape recording of Queen Victoria’s message to President James Buchanan. 1858. Ink on paper. Royal Collection Trust.

(2) The telegraphic messages of Queen Victoria and Pres. Buchanan. Text of message and reply sent by trans-Atlantic telegraph cable on 16 Aug. 1858; illus. with vignette busts of the principals and scenes of the event; also inscribed are the names of 4 men who made the even possible: [Benj.] "Franklin", [S.F.B.] "Morse", [Cyrus] "Field", and [Hans Christian] "Oersted". 1858. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

(3) Howe’s Adventures & Achievements of Americans. Map of the first Transatlantic submarine cable. 1859. Wikimedia Commons.