RE-INVENTING RADIO


Introduction


Under the influence of digitalisation and new communication technologies, especially the WWW and its streaming technologies, the medium radio has changed drastically and rapidly within the past 15 years.  Artists were among those who have perceived these changes very early on. Some of them made them the central subject of their artistic reflection. By doing so, they positioned themselves in a tradition of radio-art, which is almost as long as the history of the medium itself, and which reaches far beyond the traditional broadcasting medium.

The title RE-INVENTING RADIO refers to this long process, in which artists continue to investigate radio as medium and radio as technology probing, within varying media-political, technological, social and economical contexts, for "radio'" utopian potential as an "apparatus of communication" (B.Brecht). In this very practice and theory, however, artists find themselves also confronted with the dystopic processes which so far have managed to change every new communication technology into an "apparatus of distribution"  and, increasingly, an apparatus of control and surveillance.

RE-INVENTING RADIO was inaugurated on July 29th 2004 at the garage festival  in Stralsund, Germany with an evening of live-performances and screenings, followed by a two-day conference.


The second chapter of RE-INVENTING RADIO takes place within or in connection with the Ars Electronica Festival  (Sept 2 - 7th 2004), Linz, Austria, and/or the celebrations of  80 Years of RADIO in Austria by Österreich 1, the Austrian National Radio culture channel.

RE-INVENTING RADIO I
RE-INVENTING RADIO II

The RE-INVENTING RADIO series is supposed to be continued on further occasions at different locations and in other forms and/or media.