archived / digitalized / submitted

Radio art in general gives expression to a certain belief in the mediums' power to not only forge community, transmit illegal signal, or promote various messages, but to question inherent assumptions around such beliefs.

         Lander, D. 1996. Radio Rethink, Banff Press

I've archived some sonic projects on Mixcloud.

The blurb what i wrote reads in green and if there had not been a 500 character limit, here is what I would have writ, added in red:

I broadcast on community arts radio Soundart Radio 102.5fm- using voice mine and others', interview, song, whispers, poetry, storytelling, babble, chatter music live sessions and recordings of concerts and gigs, buskers, sound, digitally generated effects, foley, noise lifted from the environment- birdsong, traffic, rain, sticks on railings, sirens, a story line, or narrative, plots, myth, everyday occurrences, and local news, a reason, or not- and always a appreciation of chaos: chance and improvisations are essential to my idea of a sound art as a community initiative, community radio stations offer a reflection of 'real life' - a dynamic opportunity rather than a safe or predictable situation... this appeals -keeps it real- embracing the element of chaos is a strategy which allows for unexpected occurrences, magic, and a genuine sense of audio awe to be cultivated.... 

 
AND I totally love it - it is community (hyperlocal through international and growing all the time, in listeners and makers...), it is political  -even the act of tuning in is appreciation of alternatives to the mainstream it is a practise of freedom, -after Michel Foucault- community radio is an exercise of freedoms- the rights to speech, creativity, to congregate, to question, to celebrate and to imagine society as a brighter healthier place... it is great fun, it is hard work- radio has a beautiful history and a epic future thank goodness... Radio is as radical... as community is diverse and wide: and there are as many ideas as there are producers, the door is open, and the originality and passion of every one who participates makes it that ....

I write about making radio as longlegsrunning on blogger,
and use mixcloud as a audio archive for broadcast works.

Current shows:

Roots Britannia- folk music explosion- live sessions, folklore, traditional experimentation  - with Sam Richards and Will Fox-  we broadcast archive extracts, contemporary classics, crackly vinyl, live session recordings, and host studio guests and occasional folk parties....

Totnes Town Council Monthly Public Meeting broadcasts- ensuring democracy and accessibility on the local airwaves - a broadcast which allows for those that cannot attend the meetings to hear proceedings 'from the horses' mouths' so to speak- publicising the important work being undertaken by the elected representatives of the town, and making local politics a tiny bit more approachable...

Dessert Island Disks- Totnesians share their favourite music over a dish of their favourite dessert...   more to come on this- but note* music AND cake! What could be better!?

PLUS as many random audio projects as I can shoehorn into Soundart Radio's eclectic, wildly original and comprehensive arts community radio schedule...

HAPPY LISTENING and reading :-)

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musing on radio community/community radio

 

I found a callout for article submissions that really caught my eye- something for the arty 'canned magazine' (rather flash I know, but a girls' gotta dream)-

"we are looking for detailed responses to the role of public engagement in contemporary art and how it relates to collaboration, exchange and collective action specifically."

Hooray! I could not think of (I am not involved with?) any other project that reflects what is best about collaboration, exchange and collective action more than Soundart Radio, a community arts radio station, and one truly with a twist : and then I got stuck.

3000 detailed words- no easy feat in 2 weeks - plus the kid, and on top of my other responsibilities... The date for submissions is the day after tomorrow, and I am no where near my goal. I wished to build a bit on my previous studies, to explore what a radiophonic Temporary Autonomous Zone could be, and to add something to the debate on the use of public art, the public owning art, and the public as artists....

Rather than supposing radio's 'public engagement' to be 'listener response' or 'listener participation' in a project, I was interested in how something such as radio- a 24 hr broadcast art environment - was contributing to an culture of continuous creative participation.  I wanted to show the larger picture- to investigate how Soundart Radio made a space - both physically, and on air- where the public can participate by making their own programmes. This is one part of a greater listener/producer/listener/producer feedback loop- when art is part of the public's dialogue with itself and the public becomes 'community'.

A show or programme is created as a act of response- a part of a dialogue between that programme maker and their own inspiration or muse. (Shelley loves Jarvis Cocker, I love Gregory Whitehead. We both make radio to respond and compliment what we love- to compliment by seriously engaging with it, expanding on it, delving into it deeper, sharing it over the ether with other listeners, delighting in it)... So what Soundart Radio seems to do best is encourage its producer's love affairs- how ever brief (a 1 minute art work, or a local schools' spring poetry project is as welcome as a 2 hours weekly series dedicated to local choirs' rehearsals, or obscure jazz vinyl, or bangin' techno, or improvised comedy or independent international news)...

So - how can the radio station serve the community> how does the community create the radio station? It is rather like a dance- there is a ongoing osmosis between the locale and the greater community of transmission enthusiasts and artists. The stations' programming (which is a carefully facilitated balance between structure and chaos) encourages the community to use radio in as many varied and individual and experimental ways as is possible. The radio allows the community (another route) to gain some knowledge of itself... It gets to hear itself (hopefully loudly and clearly), it gets to laugh at itself, question and answer itself, and also to know that it can take itself, and that which stirs it's varied and individual passions, seriously too....

But there is also something ephemeral- something I know Soundart Radio revels in- a belief that if we participate in our culture creatively, IT IS SO MUCH BRIGHTER. Never mind 'canned magazine'- I'm sure they will put a call out for some such submissions another time :-)