The last part of Radia’s series for Kunstradio’s „Curated by“ is a work by Vienna based artist Barbara Kaiser. She puts the intimate and nearly silent physical act of breathing in contrast to the vast metal cylinder of the Gasometer in Oberhausen, where a 48-hours-workshop was held this summer.

Radia, a network of independent radio stations and radio artists in Europe and beyond, has invited eight people to spend time together in the industrial monument. From the material that was recorded and produced there, the artists have created five pieces. Each very different, they share the experience of the Radio Art Camp in Oberhausen as well as the reference to the Gasometer.

„the basis for my piece are recordings of the participating artists breathing when climbing up the exterior staircase of the gasometer – 592 steps. on the other hand i use the acoustic frequences animated by playing back these sound in the interior of the building.“
(Barbara Kaiser)

Jean-Philippe Renoult is a sound artist, radio producer, lecturer and independent curator based in Paris. His piece for the Curated by Radia series refers to specific events in French politics which occurred in summer 2010, when the radio artists resided at Gasometer Oberhausen. His piece “Out of Breath” links documents of these events with the spectacular acoustic qualities of the industrial space.

“For the Radia art camp at the Gasometer in Oberhausen I was  literally ‘Out of Breath’ for two main reasons, firstly because I climbed  the 800 steps of the outdoor staircase of the Gasometer as the thermometer hit 36° C, which is no mean feat for a smoker, and secondly because I feel worn out by the state of French politics, in particular the L’Oreal family feud which has led to a series of investigations concerning political donations, tax evasion and money laundering.

I decided to voice this fatigue by reading the offensive comments by readers on the French investigative journalism website Mediapart’s  decision to publish extracts from secret recordings between L’Oreal heiress and Europe’s richest woman Liliane Bettencourt, and her financial advisor Patrick De Maistre. In these recordings Maistre clearly advises Liliane on how to corrupt government members and the best way to avoid a hefty tax bill.

Using the incredible resonance of the Gasometer, where every sigh, click, hum and cough are amplified to enormous proportions ‘Out of Breath’ is a radio creation that addresses the idea of suffocation through in situ readings and location recordings intercut with extracts from the actual tapes.”

The invitation by Kunstradio to produce a series of shows raised the question of a common denominator that could tie the pieces together.

It was suggested to hold a production meeting for Radia artists to share the initial impulse for the creation of the shows. As a location for this meeting Radia managed to secure one of the most imposing exhibition spaces in Europe, the Gasometer in Oberhausen. With a height of 117 meters and a diameter of 68 meters it boasts one of the most extreme acoustics of any public building, with ample of natural reverb and delay.

Eight artists from five countries spent two nights and one day in and around the giant steel cylinder and began to incubate their ideas which were subsequently finalized in their own studios. Radio art is, in this instance, a function of space.

The second part in the series is a work produced by Sarah Washington and entitled “100 Words Per Metre”:

“A dialogue occurs that empties itself into the booming darkness; freely associated text that speaks about the function of words, how they delight and frustrate. Sentences cascade down out of sight whilst others rise up and strive to reach them – in-between lies the mysterious space of their meeting. Two artists interrogate the integrity of words by propelling their voices from top to bottom and bottom to top of the vast metal cylinder of the Gasometer Oberhausen. Conversation ebbs and flows where sense overlaps, where voices merge into the overwhelming reverberation of the building or are lost to storm water streaming down through the towering gloom. Interwoven with this expansive and elongated dialogue is an opposition: the intimate personal musings of artists on the subject of Radio Art. What is Radio Art? Where can you find it? And in the end, can words help us at all?”

Producer: Sarah Washington
Text and voices:  Sarah Washington und Dinah Bird
Recordings:Dinah Bird und Knut Aufermann
Additional voices: International Radio Artists
Languages: English and German

“My approach to the Gasometer in Oberhausen consisted in exploring both its outside and inside. Quite impressed, and almost in vertigo, by its incredible height (120m) and its massive metal structure, I mirrored and  juxtaposed the metal structures and connections which were being heavily provoked through a passing tornado (believe it) with its immensely reverberating “inside” and its everlasting wave of sound. The strong wind outside and the powerful hum inside provided an intriguing affinity to the interplay of both parts. And both invisible, ungraspable, continuously haunting and mesmerizing.
In this sense, I want to suggest the power and density of the huge organic building which, that ceasing its utilitarian purpose, stands nevertheless open to imagination and awareness.”

Recordings: Paulo Raposo
Additional voices and recordings: Other Radio Art camps artists.
Language: English
Production: Paulo Raposo for Kunstradio

The invitation by Kunstradio to produce a series of shows raised the question of a common denominator that could tie the pieces together. It was suggested to hold a production meeting for Radia artists to share the initial impulse for the creation of the shows.

As a location for this meeting Radia managed to secure one of the most imposing exhibition spaces in Europe, the Gasometer in Oberhausen. With a height of 117 meters and a diameter of 68 meters it boasts one of the most extreme acoustics of any public building, with ample of natural reverb and delay. Eight artists from five countries spent two nights and one day in and around the giant steel cylinder and began to incubate their ideas which were subsequently finalized in their own studios. Radio art is, in this instance, a function of space.

Opening the Curated by series is a radiophonic analysis of the production of radio art by Knut Aufermann of Resonance104.4fm, “Radio art is what I think it is”:

„How is radio art produced? In this case on the computer, where the recordings from the Gasometer Oberhausen are arranged. Verena Kuni’s sonorous voice is set in contrast to the feedback sounds produced in the Gasometer’s giant metal cylinder. My idea is to incorporate thoughts and decisions that went into the piece, rather than presenting it as a finished entity.

An inspiration for this self-experiment was a radio performance by the avantgarde musician Keith Rowe for Resonance104.4fm in 2002. Whilst performing, he all of a sudden demanded a microphone and started explaining to the listeners why and how he was modulating the sounds on his electric guitar in front of him.

The title of the piece refers to Ed Baxter’s ironic statement ‚Radio art is what I say it is‘.“

“Shows from the Radia Network travel… from one artist’s ears to another’s. From one small community to another, far away. Within the shows journeys take place too, whether a walk through the shopping centre or a trip into space.
This collage, built from fragments of some of 2009’s contributions, celebrates these journeys large and small; what they have in common and what sets them apart.”

Lucinda Guy, artist, composer and co-founder of Soundart Radio, has compiled a 37-minutes radio journey through last year’s Radia universe for Kunstradio, using extracts of the following productions:

·         Out of Space, War of the Worlds from Orange 94.0, Vienna

·         Our Domestic Radiation by Anna Friz for Free103point9, New York

·         Snow Squabbles by Neil Griffith, Cathy Inouye  Caroline Kunzle for Ckut, Montreal

·         Incidental Parallels by Pôm Bouvier B. for Radio Grenouille

·         Radiodance Opus.01: Y Do B?, by F. Ribeiro, for Rádio Zero

·         Silence Radio: Ruisselle by Philippe Vandendriessche; Greetings from Italy by Damien Magnette; Nous, les Défunts by Yannick Dauby. From Radio Campus, Bruxelles

·         Stiller Marktschrei  by Stephan Roth from Orange 94.0, Vienna

·         Closing Down, by GilbertandGrape from Soundart Radio, Dartington

·         This Means War by Andrej  Ancevski for Kanal 103, Skopje

·         Fragments of Stratford Shopping Centre  by Martin Williams, for Resonance 104.4fm, London

·         The Forester And Me (Burning Ice) by Maarten Lauwaert and Joris Van Damme for XL Air

·         Rug Radio by Maria Papadomanolaki for Free103point9 New York

·         Flare: Real Energy World / Niger Delta By Eva Ursprung for Klubradio/Herbstradio Berlin

·         Why Don’t You Go Home? by Cathryn Morgan Richards for  Soundart Radio, Dartington

·         Awaiting for the Waters to Rise by Frederic Alstadt  for Radio Campus Brussels

·         Mayon Volcano  by Andreas Loeschner Gornau for Radio Corax, Halle

·         Playground: Art Games by Miss Gunst for Radio X, Frankfurt

35 minutes to highlight the production for the whole year of 2008 of the Radia network would compress the 44 radio programs (1232 minutes), in a 0.028 ratio…

The 2008 review mix for Kunstradio represents a personal choice (compiled by Ricardo Reis and João Bacalhau) of the amazingly large spectrum of material that was produced throughout 2008. A list identifying the shows that were plundered for this work is given bellow (no special order). We hope it entices listeners’ curiosity to listen to more Radia shows and check the descriptions on http://www.radia.fm. And, YES, if you are an artist, send an email to the station nearer you and propose a program to Radia.

“The Dispatcher” by Kristin Lucas, show #146, from free103point9

“

radioradar_x” by Marold Langer-Philippsen, show #147, from Radio Corax

radiophonic, show #148 from Radio Grenouille

“Canticles of the First Floor” by Pedro Coelho, show #152 from Rádio Zero

“Learning Tibetan” by earweego (Echo Ho and Hannes Hoelzl), show #153, from Resonance104.4FM

“I was listening wind of Himalaya in My former life…” by Lasonick, show #156, from Lemurie Prague

“wolves in Greenland” by Ralf Wendt, show #158, from Radio Corax

“Silent Zone” by Michael Fischer, Caroline Hofer, Barbara Kaiser, Lale Rodgarkia-Dara, Fiona Steinert, show #169, from Radio Orange

“

lisbon underground” by Amadeu, show #169, from Radio Zero

“Northern relationships”, show #173 (from CKUT)

“Mechanical water” by Aymeric de Tapol, show #177, from Radio Campus

“Blackbox, Sounds of a Society”, show #179 from Kanal 103

“state of radio”, show #181 from XL Air

“autophones rlxtended” by Michael Gambacurta and Matthias S. Krüger, 
show #186, from RadioX

It’s a Money Party – A global youtube election redux” by Berlin Backyard Radio, show #188, from Reboot

“Black Water Brown Water” by David Prior, show #190, from Soundart

“mixing borders”, show #195 from Resonance104.4fm

Kunstradio asked Etienne Noiseau from the crew of Radio Grenouille in Marseille for a selection of recent pieces from Radia. He replied with a three-show series that would include the best pieces (to his opinion) of all the Radia stations during the 2006-2007 period. With Floriane Pochon who is the presenter of the weekly Radia show on Radio Grenouille, they selected fourteen pieces, i.e. one piece per Radia station during the period.

Then Etienne selected one relevant excerpt per piece. He based his choice only on sound affinities and combined all the excerpts one another into three pieces so as to form “3 journeys through Radia”.

JOURNEY 3:

Third and last path in the universe of Radia, mapping so many roads, opening all sources,,
Possibly, as if we could rely on the fixed-point theorem to solve a non-linear, partial, differential equation.

Third and last time,
Possibly, as if, by the sound of it, form could only be the content led to the surface,,
Possibly, as we were floundering down the mud of melted mirages,,

Third exile,
Possibly, as if electronic fears could mine the wasteland of bucolic daydreams.

Third excavation,
Possibly, as if speeches that do not bleed could prevent sense from circulating.
Possibly, as if we could brush past these sounds that are impossible to fossilize.

Third migration, within minutes, for the last seasonal influx,
Possibly, as if we could attempt to catch a fleeing hope and sew up the sky in a sigh, flapping of an eyelash.

SOURCES OF JOURNEY 3:

PIECE: Eniac Nomoi (show #108)
ARTIST: Joulia Strauss and Martin Carlé
GENRE: Doku
RADIO: Reboot.fm, Berlin

PIECE:: ma[Marseille] (show #90)
ARTIST: François Parra
GENRE: elektroakustische Komposition
RADIO: Radio Grenouille, Marseille

PIECE: Da Nubian Electronix (show #121)
ARTIST: Mike Rosoft (aka Attila Kenyeres)
GENRE: Soundscape
RADIO: Tilos Radio, Budapest

PIECE: From men and birds (show #112)
ARTIST: Ralf Wendt
GENRE: Hörspiel
RADIO: Radio Corax, Halle

PIECE: Sul Suono (show #106)
ARTIST: every kid on speed with Enrico Glerean
GENRE: Radio-Mix
RADIO: Kanal 103, Skopje

Kunstradio asked Etienne Noiseau from the crew of Radio Grenouille in Marseille for a selection of recent pieces from Radia. He replied with a three-show series that would include the best pieces (to his opinion) of all the Radia stations during the 2006-2007 period. With Floriane Pochon who is the presenter of the weekly Radia show on Radio Grenouille, they selected fourteen pieces, i.e. one piece per Radia station during the period.

Then Etienne selected one relevant excerpt per piece. He based his choice only on sound affinities and combined all the excerpts one another into three pieces so as to form “3 journeys through Radia”.

JOURNEY 2:

Second journey through the universe of Radia,
Possibly, as if seconds were numbered, on fingertips, experienced at first hand, eyes closed and mind open.

Second foray,
Possibly, as if we could serve our time at the table of contents, in the faintest glimmer of a vanishing vision,
Possibly, as if we could escape an organic prison out of a clinical vertigo.

Second exploration,
Possibly, as if the hours of dreams could become digital and leave their prints in the near future.

Second slide,
Possibly, as if slaves could only stand for chain reactions, keeping everything under numerical control,
Possibly, as if a magnetic cloud could break down the social climate, in a universal time, measured in emergency.

Second immersion, in a focused and suffocated crowd, unable to give even its word, and unable to commit to what could be only a war of toys.

SOURCES OF JOURNEY 2:

PIECE: Lament for the London Olympic Site (show #114)
ARTIST: Stephen Cornford
GENRE: electroacoustic composition
RADIO: SounDart Radio, Dartington

PIECE: Gérard Clamart’s strange adventure (show #104)
ARTIST: Irvic D’Olivier
GENRE: radio drama
RADIO: Radio Campus, Brussels

PIECE: The Demonstration (show #78)
ARTIST: Anna Friz
GENRE: radio-art
RADIO: Free103point9, New York

PIECE: BriefVision (or PismoVidenie) (show #115)
ARTIST: Lale Rodgarkia-Dara
GENRE: Hörspiel
RADIO: Radio Orange, Wien

Kunstradio asked Etienne Noiseau from the crew of Radio Grenouille in Marseille for a selection of recent pieces from Radia. He replied with a three-show series that would include the best pieces (to his opinion) of all the Radia stations during the 2006-2007 period. With Floriane Pochon who is the presenter of the weekly Radia show on Radio Grenouille, they selected fourteen pieces, i.e. one piece per Radia station during the period.

Then Etienne selected one relevant excerpt per piece. He based his choice only on sound affinities and combined all the excerpts one another into three pieces so as to form “3 journeys through Radia”.

JOURNEY 1:

First journey through the universe of Radia,
Possibly, as if, sometimes, we could take the time to give us space,
Possibly, as if the world could twist and re-form itself, dissolve or burst in snatches of universes that last a few seconds and then get lost in a multitude of temporary eternities.

First steps out of line, somewhere along these lines of sight that render any running away impossible, and necessary, dangerous and salutary.

First stage,
Possibly, as if we could fill up digestive and cathode-ray tubes, as if we could fall down through vertical skylines and eventually, possibly, feed ghost towns where resound the leprous shades of memory, inner crowds fooling around.

First wandering,
Possibly, as if we could think into familiar voices that cancel us out, beating time excesses,
Possibly, as if a wave of reminiscences could hold us up, back ground swell of sounds.

First deviance,
Possibly, as if people of a sound mind could soon be driven mad but not sad, even if… a fit of laughter…

So what’s the point?
That of no return, of course, because sometimes, we can’t get over it, and it sounds as a spell.

(text by Floriane Pochon)

SOURCES OF JOURNEY 1:

PIECE: Assembly line story (show #83)
ARTIST: Ricardo Reis
GENRE: collage
RADIO: Rádio Zero, Lissabon

PIECE: Algérienne (show #116)
ARTIST: Vincent Matyn-Wallecan
GENRE: documentary / electroacoustic composition
RADIO: Radio Panik, Brüssel

PIECE: no title or the Tape-beatles on Radia (show #119)
ARTIST: The Tape-beatles
GENRE: plunderphonics / collage
RADIO: Resonance, London

PIECE: FieldRec_Sofia (show #69)
ARTIST: esem (aka Georgi Marinov)
GENRE: phonography
RADIO: Radio Cult, Sofia (now Bulgarian member is Interspace: http://www.i-space.org/)

PIECE: Retro-Sono-Grafia (show #99)
ARTIST: Jan Dufek from a show by Lasonick, Jan Dufek and Ladislav Železný
GENRE: collage / mix
RADIO: Lemurie TAZ, Prag