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