radio- the site, as common ground

^{The banal, the quotidian, the obvious, the ordinary, the infra-ordinary, the background noise, the habitual […] How are we going to speak of these common things, how to track them down, how to flush them out, wrest them from the dross in which they are mired, how to give them meaning, a tongue, to let them, finally, speak of what it is, who we are.}

^{Gorges Perec,(1974) Species of Spaces}

<sup>I work from the premise that

the environment can be considered a reservoir of sound possibilities , an instrumentarium used to give substance and shape to human relations and the everyday management of [urban]space
Schafer, R Murray, (2005) introduction to Sonic Experience. 

My own place in space, the marking of my time there through sonic art as a medium and its many possibilities, the radio as a site of dissemination, and the choices I have made as an arranger, writer and recordist all are located within a 'acoustic ecology'-  my sonic environment and my interactions with that space.</sup>

My work is site specific- almost oxymoronic- considering radio waves are all-pervasive and ever present- this work was designed with the exploration of relationship between listener, producer, place, sound, radio and in mind.

[Radio ART ] concentrates on sound at its point of signification, not a literal rendering which will collapse into cliché, but a sensitivity to the ways in which sound circulates, dissipates and re-emerges.

Dan Lander (1994)

I use Lander's words to emphasise radio's part in this work- I enjoy the quotes' double meaning- the 'point of signification' must mean both the point of generation and the point of reception, both are in relation in 'finding meaning'- the perceptive distortion of subjectivity is at both ends of the process. Writing about Sink Play throughout the project, and now after the playout listening to the CD might make it appear otherwise- a static work, a recording – but this was designed as a radio work- to be played through/ heard through the radio- hopefully within the washing up situation.

The use of the playout situation as the stage for the work was really exciting to me. Through radio I could address listeners directly; I chose the time of playout strategically- as a hopeful net to catch local FM range listeners engaged in washing up- thus facilitating a feedback loop which might offer a break with domestic (mental) monotony by simply underscoring it. Radio has the ability to enter into the listener's intimate immediate situation and to participate in their activity – it becomes another factor in activity: a listener uses radio to enhance what-ever-it-is-they-happen-to-be-doing- the activity of living....  

Over a billion hours a week of radio listening take place in the UK. The vast majority of those hours take place in the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, the car and on the move... Abramsky J (2003)

Whilst recording, in also in regard to the playout situation, I considered the sites' influence on sound...

Reverberations occurring within the kitchen space – the reflections of noise off tile, glass, ceramic and metal- influenced the tone of the work. The initial 'field studies' I took of the kitchen produced abrasive noises with lots of attack. The zooms' sensitive stereo microphones were useful for close-up recording- this focused recording technique lent a industrial quality to the sound, for example the crashing of pans and highly defined clinking of masses of cutlery, which were both helpful to articulate ideas of manual labour and industrial work.

I was able to illustrate a more delicate and focused sound awareness through close up recordings too- such as the dripping tap and the hum of the fridge. I felt this amplification of specific repetitive sounds were a good foil for the more intimate (and in places almost whispered) vocal script.

Timbre and intensity are also modified by the play out situation- if the work is heard in the kitchen, then that spaces' acoustics are doubly influential- reflections of sound from the surrounding surfaces are added to the direct signal.

I tried hard to avoid writing a score to record- apart from the spoken text, sounds were unscripted - I wanted to hear the kitchen 'for itself' rather than using the materials there as traditional instruments.¹ Maybe the accessibility of the listener to the sonic processes used in Sink Play may have engendered some kind of awareness and interactivity- radioart is often a exploration of the listener producer relationship unfolding.... This was a element I recognised as part of my desire for interaction- would a listener find themselves jamming with the show as they worked- scrubbing along, ting-ting-tinging clatter over running water bang (bang)...enjoying and improvising the work-at-hand, if only by the novelty of hearing this unusual use of radio.

I recorded in 5 different kitchens- I wanted to hear a difference in the atmospherics of each- allowing for discrepancies in gain, and volume of play, there is a noticeable difference for example, Frankie's rough plastered and wood clad kitchen 3m X 4m and Corrine's large glass window and metal and Formica surfaces 6m x 5m. These contrasts aren't made obvious within the progression of Sink Play, but this was interesting to me as a recordist interested in the acoustics of space.... This effect of the location's influence is known as it's 'colour'. (p28, Sonic Experience).

Although these kitchens offered different colours, there were themes that continued through them all- I was aware of the fridge's bassy droning,-it's hum, and wanted to use this like a meditative 'OM'. Electrical equipment such as the fridge, fluorescent tubes and mechanical ventilation, all found in kitchens, are aligned on the frequency of the European electrical network which is 5o Hz. (p52 sonic Experience). Finding and highlighting similarities and possible relationships has been a conceptual element of my process- the work is a seeking to understand and liberate (re imagine) a 'lonely bored housewife'- the first stage in that is maybe to realise, simply, 'one is not alone'? Being aware of similarities, contingencies, company- and using radio as a common ground, these are the premises from which I as a woman, artist and human find the courage to question out loud my situation, and the world in which I exist. 
 

The radio itself can be seen to provide a kind of drone- background noise- a territorial demarcation of the space in use by the 'listening individual'- I felt using the public medium of radio to focus for half an hour on the chore, and the worker, was a celebration to counter the marginalisation that... I suppose... myself and many other single parent mothers feel as they clear the kitchen yet again....

We are just private individuals here, with no other grounds for speaking or for speaking together, that a certain shared difficulty in enduring what is taking place.

Who appointed us then? No one. And that is what precisely constitutes our right

Michel Foucault (1984)

This beautiful quote finds relevance in all circles of experience, from intimate relationships to international politics- a genuine, humane and engaged articulation (I think of sonic arts: Diamanda Galas' screaming, Artaud's 'To Be Done With The Judgement of God', alongside the pirate broadcasts of Irish womens' group, rebels, Martin Luther King's speeches...) bringing possibilities to light.

So why not just talk face to face? There is a agenda involved in this radio project- for me it is a 'practice of freedom' (Foucault) my desire to subvert and unlock the traditional and problematic control of the airwaves by specialists, and my desire that female roles/my role/ in society/ the home/ in my imagination be developed, understood and deepened)

(I wondered about the classification of my work- is this live art? Is this interactive theatre? There are ritualistic aspects to both the chore and domestic procedures- and the accompaniment of radio programming and listening within that situation is part of that ritualistic activity-.In the first instance of washing up, sounds signify specific actions as clearly as the ringing of bells or beating of drums. The theatrical aspects of the work, using a set script, having a progression, and some narrative etc worried me- are these strategies for restriction? Are they immature and outdated? Is 'having a desired response', an intention, uncool? These are all questions this work invokes- Uni documentation requires so much self reflection one becomes sick of writing the word 'I'- it is what it is- undefinable)

Radio has multitudinous uses- that of the mask is most obvious-radio play sits over the primary sounds of the listening environment, filling what might be considered empty.

I wanted to explore this- even with 12 available FM stations, I could not find what I wanted to hear-nothing playing seemed right -the relationship between my ears, my desires, what is available, my control of that, others' influence, are all at play- a result of the mediated environment lifestyle). Whatever is 'on', the imported sound can be considered as parasitic or favourable to the original sonic environment, complimenting or overwhelming it. Which value is decided subjectively by each listener.

Radio is widely accepted as a background sound²- used as accompaniment to life's activities- not a listening experience that seeks to immerse but rather to compliment a listening situation (apposed to, for example the traditional listening environment of the seated concert hall where a more complete sonic immersion is often the focus of the space and the event). 
 

Sonic Experience asks the question:

Is background sound (radio and television) not a mask covering the “acoustic nothingness” within which the individual and his or her solitude is immersed? (P 71 Sonic Experience) 
 

The domestic environment is often a negotiated place, cohabited and noisy, so this question might be enquiring of the solitude of the internal space. The effect of immersion relates to the dominance of a sonic field when several are at play within the same context. The primary sonic situation is usually considered to be that of the listening environment and the super imposed sound- (ie the radio playing Sink Play ) overlaid.Your own washing up sounds, the children playing tag in the garden, the traffic and passers by outside your window, however and and whatever environmental noise you are located within are part of your listening experience.

This illustrates one of radio's paradoxes- the interaction between the private and the public experience. Radio is a private comforter to the lonely and radio is a public link between groups of individuals in community. Rudolph Armheim imagined, in his text 'Radio' (1936)- 

the omnipresence of what people are singing or saying anywhere, the over-leaping of frontiers, the conquest of spatial isolation, the importation of culture on the waves of ether, the same fare for all. 

These possibilities are still available. Radio is a tool, and as with all media, the possibilities are reliant upon the desires and activities of producers and users. As a radio enthusiast, I feel very strongly that radio's role in social life is worthy of creative attention. Radio's role in society is of course non-static....

Regarding uses of radio, Tetsuo Kogawa (2002-2003) shares some great ideas in his Micro Radio Manifesto:

^{As a means to cover larger area, airwaves are wasteful and not ecological. Big radio is no more necessary. Sooner or later, large and global communication technologies will be integrated into the Internet. Radio, television and telephone will become local nodes to it. Thus globalists will discard such exiting medium [as FM radio]. So it is the time when radio and television (and even telephone) must re-find their own emancipating possibility.} 
 

^{Community Radio, as a intimate and domestic accompaniment, is very capable of exploring this space- that of the personal, that of the interpersonal- a practise of emancipation, a multi level multi disciplinary dialogue around issues that are pertinent to living, participating, interaction, and art. Tetsuo Kogawa runs workshops making Lo-Fi mini FM transmitters- to facilitate listeners onto the air. This lo-fi and people-based approach is what I am interested in- radio (transmitters/shows) by people -women at kitchen sinks, for people -women at kitchen sinks.}

^{Some radio stations offer a strict format- dependable, predictable, following/ leading their chosen market, and some, such a arts community stations, cover a diverse a range of subjects, styles, and material in their programming. Sink Play would not have found airspace on the radio if it were not for the arts based community radio in my town- Soundart Radio 102.5 FM- a small station that really encourages listeners to produce work, exploring styles, passions, content, voices and subjects in a radical and supportive way.}

Felix Guttari's idea of 'transmission transversal' clearly called for this rewriting of radio relationships -  

unlike conventional radio, free radio does not impose programs on a mass audience whose numbers have been forecast, but freely comes across to a “molecular” public, so that it changes the nature of communication between those who listen and those who speak. 

This is made possible by the approachability of the studio and transmitter- its location is approximate that of its reception. Free Radio's producers are its listeners- radio like this brings debate and conversation back into the (area of transmittance) public arena.

Producing for radio is part of this dialogue- when I hear the artworks of Lucinda Guy, or Oima or David Strang on Soundart Radio, or recordings of Artaud or Gregory Whitehead, and read the writings of Tetsuo Kogawa or Christof Migone and Allen Weiss- I respond with radio work- entering into a ongoing relationship:

The Clash of differentiation with uniformity persists

In every radio listener until we are delivered

From the Kieregaardian panic of solitude

By uplinking with the emerging potentia state

That could be called the Broadcast Omniverse.

Frizzle/ Manderville,

And, of course, the small corner of my kitchen is a perfect place from which to work.

Bibliography:

Armheim, Rudolph. (1936) Radio. London: Faber & Faber

Foucault,Michel.(1984) Confronting Governments,Human Rights  On the occasion of the announcement in Geneva of the creation of an International Committee against Piracy 

Frizzle,Rev Dwight and  Mandiville, Jay.  'Inaudible Transcript', in Experimental Sound and Radio,(2001) ed. Allen S. Weiss, A TDR Book, London

Guattri, Felix (1978). Popular Free Radio, from La Nouvelle Critique and Rouge,  trans David Sweet, in Radiotext(e) (1993) Semiotext(e), USA

Kogawa,Tetsuo(2002-2003) A Micro Radio Manifesto, http://anarchy.translocal.jp/non-japanese/radiorethink.html viewed 12/2/2011)

Lander,Dan (1994). 'Radio Casting: Musing on Radio and Art', in Radio Rethink, ed. Daina Augaitis and Dan Lander,  Walter Philips Gallery, Canada

Perec,Georges. Species of Spaces (1974) quoted inThe Everyday (2004) p12,  ed. Stephen Johnstone, Whitechapel and The MIT Press,Slovenia

Sonic Experience: A Guide to Everyday Sounds, Ed Jean-Francois Augoyard and Henry Torgue (2005) McGill-Quessn's university Press, Cananda. 

Abramsky J (2003) The future of digital radio in Europe viewed 28/03/06,http://www.bbc.co.uk/ pressoffice/speeches/stories/abramsky_nab.shtml 

1I enjoyed seeing and hearing the YouTube clip of this Swedish collective playing the composition of Ola Simonsson, in which they play a whole flat- 6 musicians interpreting their score in a novel way which must stay with the viewers as a kind of invitation- the sounds of the home holding such untapped potential....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SylGOskjWw&feature=player  " Music For One Apartment And Six Drummers" viewed 13/3/2011

2

‘Radio listening is still a secondary activity - at any one time listeners spend 1% of their time listening to the radio as a main activity (i.e. doing nothing else)’ internal BBC presentation, MC andA audience consumer research, Daily Life survey, 2002/2003, for BBC , retrieved from http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/radio/reports/bcr/)