Interrogations of consumption: the territory of late-stage capitalism in the National Radio Quiet Zone

The conditions of contemporary society are in a constant flux of supply and demand: a ubiquitous supply of digitally created media content and a demand for regular consumption. This is one of many conditions of late-stage capitalism, where new modes of interaction between material and data are created. In the presence of late-stage capitalism and this constant flux of digital content, a new spatial territory is forming, where subjective experiences are met with new occupations. This territory is composed as a fusion of digital media, technology, material objects, subjectivities and physical space. It is in constant evolution, undefined by boundary and temporally unstable, and integrating itself with the constant consumption of digital media content. In this spatial territory, there are seemingly places that appear unfazed by the effects of the digital content economy. However, a focused view begins to shine a light on the far reach of the conditions of late-stage capitalism. Within this context, the setting of the National Radio Quiet Zone, a geopolitical radio quiet boundary housing the world’s largest fully steerable radio telescope technology located within the rural eastern United States, serves as the physical instantiation for exploration of this territory. The conditions of late-stage capitalism in this setting offer a unique vantage point from which to think about the architectural, urbanistic, cultural and sociological questions offered by this new spatial territory and the subjective experiences, where at the surface, content consumption appears restricted by radio quiet policies but a deeper view opens opportunities for unique design occupation.