Sunday, 29. October 2006, 23:05. - 23:45, Ö1

KUNSTRADIO - RADIOKUNST



 

EAR APPEAL (Part 1)
– a Kunstradio special series aired in collaboration with the Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna on the occasion of their current exhibition „Ear Appeal“

» I. KANON

» II. SUNDIAL BARCELONA

» III. CACEROLADA

» IV. THE SOUND OF THE WAR ON THE POOR

The exhibition „Ear Appeal“ curated by Doreen Mende, and currently on show at the Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna examines strategies for constructing capitalist societies through sound: Our sonic environment has a far more direct impact on daily actions than just suggestive image production. Soundscapes define economic, social, and cultural territories.

In response to the question “How does sound influence our society?”, eleven artists deal in site-specific works with two issues: control and the production of space. An exhibition on the theme of sound in public and social space cannot take place solely indoors. Research, radio transmissions and institutional cooperations on-site expand the exhibition space of the Kunsthalle Exnergasse to the realm of the city, the source of the material being explored.

In this sense, Kunstradio’s „Ear Appeal Special“, a series of broadcasts on Ö1is to be regarded as the extension of the exhibition space to the airwaves: In the following three programmes, Kunstradio will present radiophonic works by artists participating in the show made specifically for this context.

„Ear Appeal“ is not a sound-art exhibition: instead, it approaches sound as conceptual and analytic material, examining the ways sound defines space and exerts control.

Due to the fact that listening to Vienna in Vienna may seem somewhat redundant, the British artist Justin Bennett who lives in Den Haague has, instead, decided to present two radiophonic recordings from Barcelona: „Sundial Barcelona“ and „Cacerolada“. At the Kunsthalle Exnergasse, one can also hear his new work „Sundial Wien“.
„Surveying the Future“ by the artist group Ultra-red based in Los Angeles, California, deals with the site of the exhibition, Vienna, using different parameters: instead of questioning the acoustic relationship between sound and social structures due to the sonic-economic specifity of a surrounding soundscape, Ultra-red provides an analytic research of the social fabric by means of sound.

Related Links:
"Ear Appeal" Part 2

"Ear Appeal" Part 3
Kunsthalle Exnergasse


A CASSETTE OF THIS PROGRAM CAN BE ORDERED FROM THE "ORF TONBANDDIENST"




Stills: Video DVD, 1:40 Min. Kanon, 2006

 

Kanon

von Annette Weisser


„Kanon“ is based on the well-known nursery rhyme „C-A-F-F-E-E trink´ nicht so viel Caffee“ by Carl Gottlieb Hering. Aiming at questioning definitions of cultural identity, Annette Weisser replaced the text with the lyrics „We know what we are by what we are not“, which she discovered when reading a magazine, in an article on the so-called „clash of cultures“. Annette Weisser sings respectively whistles all vocals of the canon.

„Kanon“ was recorded in the Studio 3 at the ORF Funkhaus in Vienna in summer 2005.


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SUNDIAL BARCELONA

recorded 10.5.2003
by Justin Bennett


„Sundial“ is a series of works which analyse the daily rhythm of a particular city. Over 24 hours, Bennett periodically makes sound recordings at a single location. These recordings are then edited together into a short (8 to 12 minute) piece that follows the day from midnight to midnight.
The everyday rhythms and dynamics of the place are thereby compressed into a few minutes, with the listener being at the centre of these events. Although the sun and its shadow are absent, one can hear how the world changes in response to the day/night rhythm.
Sundial Barcelona was made on a rooftop in the centre of the city, at the same location as "Cacerolada".



CACEROLADA

recorded 19.3.2003
by Justin Bennett


A cacerolada is a noise protest using kitchen utensils as percussion instruments.
In March and April 2003, during the lead up to the war in Iraq, organised and spontaneous caceroladas took place in Barcelona. This is one of them, recorded from high up on a rooftop in the city centre. Not only kitchen equipment was used but also drums, oildrums, whistles, horns, sirens and voices. Friends reported that the cacerolada reached far out into the suburbs.
This recording of shifting rhythms and layers of sound documents a profoundly democratic event, filled with anger and hope. These celebrations of dissent were one stop on a tragic route which resulted in the Atocha bombing, the fall of the Aznar government and the ultimate withdrawal of the Spanish troops from Iraq.

The piece has been edited down from a 45 minute recording.


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THE SOUND OF THE WAR ON THE POOR

by Ultra-red / Manuela Bojadzijev and Dont Rhine

On October 21, 2006 the Ultra-red members Manuela Bojadijev (Berlin) and Dont Rhine (Los Angeles) called for participation in their "Encuentro" at the Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna which was organised within the framework of the current exhibition "Ear Appeal“. Researchers, activists, and artists came to the event where Ultra-red posed the question: "What is the sound of the war on the poor in Vienna?"
Among those who provided answers to this question were Tania Martini, Roland Atzmüller, Jakob Weingartner, and Fahim Amir.
Tania escorted Ultra-red on a tour through the Lugner City shopping mall, while Roland guided the sound artists along the „Gürtel“, one of Vienna’s traffic belts, which he described as a border between Vienna’s poor and the more well off population. Jakob showed Ultra-red the Brunnenmarkt, an outstanding place for migrant communities, art projects, and the fantasy and ideas of urban developers. Dieter Behr, the fifth questioned person, invited Ultra-red to Ute Bock in Vienna’s second district which is called Leopoldstadt.
How can projects like this, focusing on advice and benefaction, matching the needs of the poor, of refugees, and migrants, contribute to a further movement of liberation instead of regarding the poor as objects of social welfare? Is Vienna true to its reputation and representation as a saturated city – a city where social disparity is gradually dissolved by means of the ideals of the welfare state? Or is poverty made invisible in a silent warfare on the borders of capitalist development? What is the sound of this war on the poor?
Questions like these were raised during the "Encuentro", framing Ultra-red’s more common interest in a militant sound research of poverty policies in Vienna.

For Kunstradio, Ultra-red mixed and arranged recordings from this "Encuentro" with field recordings from Vienna which form the radiophonic piece "THE SOUND OF THE WAR ON THE POOR".

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