Blinks is an ongoing cartographic and video archive of flickering lights and technical glitches found in public space. Each record combines a moving image with its geographic coordinates and, when available, the cadence of its flicker. Together, these fragments form a map of “accidental lighthouses”: signals produced by malfunction rather than design, guiding no one anywhere. Since 2019, the archive has reached archive no. 991, with records from 24 countries.
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While advancing along the road, the headlights, like immovable landmarks, mark the correct route for those who know how to interpret their signs. A particular light cadence translates the geographical coordinates and, like a clock that with the arbitrary position of its hands marks the hours, assures us that we are in this or that place.
These involuntary lighthouses position us on an unattainable and sporadic map. The data remains but its primary function is lost, and yet, as we move forward, it gives us, from time to time, little glimpses of beauty.
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If you come across a flickering light and would like to contribute to the archive, send a video together with its coordinates—or an approximate location—to santiagocolombomigliorero@gmail.com.
