In Blue Box (2021), Tan Mu reinterprets the 1960s Blue Box—an illicit device that exploited telecommunication networks—as a symbol of creative subversion. By generating in-band signaling tones, these devices bypassed control systems, turning infrastructure into a site of exploration. Tan Mu translates this act of hacking into a visual and conceptual inquiry, exploring coded signals as both constraints and catalysts. Through the depiction of this equipment, the work reflects on technology’s dual role in shaping and disrupting systems of access and control. Blue Box invites viewers to reconsider the boundaries between sanctioned use and subversive intervention in an era of evolving digital autonomy.

Q: What drew you to explore this early communication technology?

Tan Mu: My early encounters with communication technology left a deep impression on me. Growing up, I used rotary and push button telephones, pagers, cassette recorders, and radios. I was fascinated by how sound and signals could travel across distance. I remember experimenting with radios by playing a cassette on one device and recording it on another, trying to understand how sound could be captured, transmitted, and reproduced. These moments sparked my long term interest in signal encoding and communication systems.

While researching early computing and communication history, I encountered the Blue Box. This device, developed and promoted by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in the early 1970s, manipulated telephone tones to exploit the phone company’s system, allowing users to make free long distance calls. Although they were not the original inventors, they refined the device and treated it as both a technical experiment and a small scale business. This experience played a meaningful role in shaping their thinking and eventually contributed to the founding of Apple. For me, the Blue Box represents a moment when curiosity, experimentation, and subculture intersected with the foundations of modern communication.

Q: You mentioned the connection between the Blue Box and phone hacking culture. Could you elaborate on this?

Tan Mu: The Blue Box is closely tied to phone hacking, also known as phreaking. Phone hackers studied the internal logic of telephone systems and used sound frequencies to exploit their vulnerabilities. Devices like the Blue Box allowed them to manipulate signals and access systems that were meant to be closed. What interests me is not just the act of hacking itself, but the mindset behind it. This culture reflects a deep desire to understand how systems work and how they might be reimagined or repurposed.

Although the Blue Box existed on the margins of legality, it became a catalyst for innovation. For Wozniak and Jobs, it was an early lesson in engineering, entrepreneurship, and system thinking. That experience helped shape the philosophy behind later technologies that would redefine communication. Through this work, I aim to reflect on how breakthroughs often originate outside official institutions and how fringe experimentation can eventually reshape everyday life.

Q: Could you talk about the unique way Blue Box is displayed in your solo exhibition Signal?

Tan Mu: In the exhibition, Blue Box is installed in a small hidden attic space. The room is only three or four square meters, with a circular wall that perfectly fits the scale of the painting. This placement reflects the covert and underground nature of the device and the culture surrounding it. The work is not immediately visible. Visitors must climb a long staircase and navigate several turns before discovering it.

This physical journey mirrors the idea of hacking itself. It turns viewing into an act of exploration and discovery rather than passive observation. By isolating the work in this concealed space, I wanted to emphasize its historical role as a hidden tool that quietly altered the course of communication technology.