Radio Influenza
Daily until October 2019
This ambitious 365-day digital commission by Jordan Baseman marks the centenary of the 1918 influenza pandemic, known as the Spanish Flu.
Commissioned by Wellcome, Radio Influenza explores and interprets how news, rumour and health information and dis-information were shared and experienced through newspaper accounts at the time.
Over the course of a year, a daily audio piece captures the everyday lived experience of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed at least 50 million people worldwide. Listeners can follow the reports through a dedicated website, podcast, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was one of the most significant and wide-reaching international health crises of the twentieth century, which killed at least 50 million people worldwide.
Jordan Baseman has developed Radio Influenza through in-depth archival research using original source materials from 1918-19. The broadcasts follow the patterns and rhythms of everyday life over the course of a year. From individual, local stories to national and international responses, the project represents the devastation of the epidemic through the everyday, exploring how information about it filtered into every aspect of life.
Using contemporary reporting from the British Newspaper Archive held by the British Library, it tracks scientific developments and failures, the public’s hopes and fears, and governments’ action and inaction.
Radio Influenza by Jordan Baseman is commissioned by Wellcome and produced by Matt’s Gallery, London.
Jordan Baseman is a visual artist and filmmaker. He received a BFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and an MA from Goldsmith’s College, University of London. Baseman is currently the Reader in Time Based Media, Senior Tutor in Moving Image at the Royal College of Art, London. He is represented by Matt’s Gallery, London.
Matt’s Gallery is a contemporary not-for-profit art gallery, established in 1979 by Robin Klassnik OBE as an alternative space in East London. For over 38 years, Matt’s Gallery has been an independent and influential force in the visual arts sector, both nationally and internationally, championing the careers of artists such as Benedict Drew, Willie Doherty, Jimmie Durham, Susan Hiller, Nathaniel Mellors, Mike Nelson, Lindsay Seers, Imogen Stidworthy and Richard Wilson.
Wellcome exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. We’re a global charitable foundation, both politically and financially independent. We support scientists and researchers, take on big problems, fuel imaginations and spark debate.
