Tune In!
For years I have been talking and thinking and working with radio in workshops, performances and talks. And now it is a book! About using radio waves as artistic material. Tune In! An Artist’s Guide to Radio and the Electromagnetic Spectrum will be published by Korm Plastics in early November.
It explains the physics and the tools in plain language, from the crystal set and the shortwave receiver to software-defined radio, low-power transmitters and antennas you can build yourself. It looks at the politics of a spectrum that belongs to everyone yet is controlled by very few, and maps fifteen artistic approaches through the work of artists such as Christina Kubisch, Joyce Hinterding, Tetsuo Kogawa and Anna Friz. Most chapters close with exercises, many of which need nothing more than a portable radio and attentive ears.
Pre-order Tune In! at Korm Plastics for 17,50 €.
Build, tune, walk, play
On 14 and 15 November I teach a weekend workshop at COSMOS in Lisbon. Together we build the Threshold Receiver, a kit I designed for the workshop: an induction receiver for electromagnetic fields, a VLF receiver for natural radio, and an input for contact microphones and probes, all into one headphone output. On Sunday we make our own antennas and take everything out into the city to listen. No experience with electronics is needed. Details and sign-up.
On 27 November I give a radio workshop at the NEXT Festival in Bratislava. We will build Treshold Receivers and go out into the city together listening to all these hidden sounds. Sign up via NEXT Festival Bratislava.
Want a workshop at your venue or festival? Write to me.