RADIO GALLERY
A series of 12 radio programmes envisaging radio as exhibition space
July 3-September 18, 2006
Broadcast every Monday 8 9pm GTM on Resonance 104.4fm, London and online:
Curated by Anna Colin
Radio Gallery is a series of 12 commissioned radio shows that treat one hour of radio as exhibition space. The contributors are artists and curators most of whom have not worked with radio before and whose practices do not necessarily have a relationship to sound. Responses to the invitation range from meta-radio shows, to solo and group exhibitions dedicated to Electronic Voice Phenomenon, transcommunication, time capsules or the uses of radio for the purposes of propaganda.
Contributors
Åbäke | Thibaut de Ruyter | Raimundas Malasauskas | Dirk Fleischmann, Nav Haq and Tirdad Zolghadr | Loris Gréaud and Karl Holmqvist | Jeremy Deller and Alex Farquharson | Olivia Plender | Matthieu Laurette | Sinisa Mitrovic and Susan Philipsz | Ryan Gander and Francesco Manacorda | Konst2 and International Festival | Steve Webber
Until about ten years ago the potential of radio as an artistic medium, which had exercised the imagination of avant-garde artists since the Futurists, was remote on account of the limited access non-professionals had to the airwaves. This changed with the emergence of a number of independent or freeform radio stations open to experimentation with the medium by artists, some made possible by the arrival of the Internet. Prominent examples include Resonance FM (London), WPS1 (New York), SR c (Stockholm), Radio Arte Mobile (Rome) and Ballongmagasinet (Oslo). Curators and institutions have since contributed to this situation, collaborating with radio stations on a project basis such as the 3rd Berlin Biennale and Reboot.fm (2004), WPS1 and WKCR with Performa05 (2005) and the 1st Athens Biennale and ArtwaveRadio (2006) or by establishing radio stations, as in the exhibition Radiodays at De Appel, Amsterdam (2005).
Yet, despite the proliferation of such collaborations, radio, when used by art institutions, is often relegated to the status of secondary site as an extension of the traditional physical exhibition. Often one suspects that the primary motivation has to do with marketing, the appeal being radio’s potential to reach new, non-gallery going audiences. But rarely would an institution go all the way and substitute the exhibition space for radio waves. Instead, the radio-making process is often physically staged, the radio studio being turned into an installation and content into a performance, which could be interpreted as a reluctance to relinquish visuality altogether and embrace the inherently immaterial characteristics of radio as a medium. Radio Gallery seeks to address these shortfalls by proposing radio as an exhibition space in its own right. Broadcast over twelve weeks, Radio Gallery is a template for a programme with long-term ambitions, the prototype for a committed radiophonic art centre.
Related Events
Saturday 22 July 2006 / 6 – 7.30pm Curating for the Radio
At Cubitt, 8 Angel Mews, London N1 9HH. Free, no booking.
A discussion between Alex Farquharson, Raimundas Malasauskas, Olivia Plender and Loris Gréaud (via telepathy). Moderated by Anna Colin.
The four will share their experiences of curating and exhibiting on the radio in the context of their own practices, and in particular in relation to other exhibition formats, whether physical spaces, television or print. Addressing radios potential as an artistic medium and mode of dissemination, they will discuss the significance of its increasing use by artists, curators and institutions.
Radio Gallery will close at the autumn with an event curated by Carl Michael von Hausswolff & Lina Dzuverovic (Electra).
More information on the individual programmes and events will be available soon, for details please email: info@radiogallery.org
Radio Gallery is funded by Arts Council England. Partners are: Resonance FM, Electra, Cubitt, Gasworks and Electronest.
