Transom Show: Transmissions sans Frontières

Transmissions sans Frontières
May 2003
Reported by Ben Walker

NAIS

From Ben Walker

I am honored and thrilled to be Transom’s ears for the radio conference in Toronto. When it comes to radio art (and I’m using the term radio art only because experimental radio takes too long to type) – I have drunk the kool-aid. I am a true believer. In fact I am a card-carrying member of the radio art cult — the radio station I am involved with in Boston (WZBC) has been broadcasting radio we call "no commercial potential" for over 20 years now. But while there is an extremely rich and fascinating secret history to radio art (try and find the book radiotext(e) if you can), it is this particular moment that we are hoping to get you excited and talking about.

Discuss Transmissions sans Frontières in TALK…

There are so many creative producers out there RIGHT NOW making their radios do things you never realized radios could do, broadcasting sounds you never imagined could be broadcast – and we’re not just talking about ‘strange’ sounds here people, some of this stuff will sound so familiar to you, so obvious that you will, as I am, be baffled as to why there are not a thousand radio stations dedicated to doing this and only this kind of radio.

Listen to the audio clips…

So what are you waiting for – check out the audio page and start listening! We have posted a few introductory pieces from artists who will be attending the conference. And over the next few days I’ll be posting audio and images from the conference and checking in on the discussion boards – so drop by often.

~ bw

From Nadene Theriault-Copeland

New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) is a non-profit organization that produces performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art. Through workshops, lectures, and demonstrations we try to teach a new perception of sound offering the opportunity to educate artists and audiences both locally and abroad. Included in its productions are: Sound Travels (outdoor spatialized electroacoustic concerts and soundwalks in August), Sign Waves (multi-media installations year-round) and SOUNDplay (a series of events that combines sound in the context of words and images November) and Deep Wireless (a month long celebration of Radio Art).

Deep Wireless was originally the name of a workshop for radio producers and programmers that focused on including the soundscape within radio programs by improving the ear and including the cultural soundmap of the community. The name was then adopted by New Adventures in Sound Art for the festival built around this workshop and included an entire month of events in April 2002 – performances of radio art, radio drama, acousmatic music and other workshops about these various elements. These activities were designed to fill a void and promote the medium in a way that had never been done in Canada.

Now in its second year, Deep Wireless 2003 has expanded to include more live events that promote experimental sound art as well as the performance of two different radio shows, Radio-a-Mock 1 & 2. These shows include all the conventions of radio – a radio host “playing” radio art versions of the weather, mystery, news, interviews – and the premiere of four new commissions co-produced with CBC Radio’s “Out Front” and Charles Street Video that use narrative in new and interesting ways. Also included is the two-day conference sponsored by the Canadian Society for Independent Radio Production “Transmissions sans Frontierès” (TSF).

Originally planned to follow the International Features Conference (which has since been postponed to the Fall), TSF includes speakers from across Canada and into the U.S. presenting topics ranging from performance art for the radio (Quick Stop Art Spot, Chandra Bulucon), to the use of sounds to create works for radio (Writing With Sounds, Chantal Dumas), to the use of radio itself as content for a new medium (The Medium is the Media, Anna Friz), to the creation of radio spaces that encourage creative expressions from new voices in the community (“Unlocking the Transmitter,” Victoria Fenner and Garvia Baily and Chris Brookes), and a host of other topics equally as interesting. It is exciting to produce a conference of this level that focuses entirely on transcending the boundaries of radio and the many art-forms associated with it. It is also exciting to find that registrations have come from across Canada and the U.S.

About Ben Walker

Benjamen Walker’s radio program Your Radio Nightlight airs every Sunday night on the Boston radio station WZBC and can be found on the web at www.yourlight.orgHe also recently was a producer on the Lydon/Mcgrath radio show "The Whole Wide World. He lives in Cambridge, Mass.