Radio_Copernicus

[ Commissioned works Stralsund/Warsaw ]

Radio_Copernicus @ garage 05, Stralsund, 15 July - 21 August 2005


Robert Piotrowicz, Radio the Receiver, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 27 July 2005, 8:30 p.m.
"Radio the Receiver" is an electro-acoustic composition that makes use of the sounds which go missing in the linearity of the radio transmission. Robert Piotrowicz claims the disjunctions of technical perfection as his own along with all the voices and stations in the ether. While the listener can’t exert any influence over the broadcast signal or can only escape it by leaving the channel, Radio the Receiver transforms the listener’s passivity into a receptive process of creativity. Unidentifiable noises, distorted transmissions and radio static are used to create a composition in "Radio the Receiver". The recordings of these radio soundscapes are in part processed using an analogue modular synthesiser, and in part left in their unaltered form. The composition distils the infinity of information contained in the radio signal into an abstract story, one which lends its voice to the elements hidden within it and which is subject to the aesthetic of sounds, signals and their dynamics.

Guy van Belle, Two Way Radios (2WR), R_C 2005
With Akihiro Kubota, Barbara Huber, Code31/Okno
First broadcast: 28 July 2005, 8:30 p.m.
"Two Way Radios" (2WR) is a project by Belgian Guy van Belle. He worked with several bi-directional audio streams for "2WR". Four performers (Guy van Belle, Akihiro Kubota/Tokyo, Barbara Huber/Linz, Code31/Okno/Brussels) generated and altered each others’ live streams. In doing so, they explicitly established a connection with the varied history of artistic radio utopias. In the spirit of these utopias, radio is intended to become a simultaneous link between here and elsewhere, as well facilitating communication and reaction in both directions.

LIGNA, The Future of Radio Art, R_C 2005
With Anna Stern (German/English), Barbara Więckowska (Polish)
First broadcast: 29 July 2005, 4 p.m. and 6 December 2005, 6 p.m.
Hamburg’s LIGNA group devises experimental situations which exploit the possibilities of radio that have always been inherent in this medium but, as the artists claim, have been forgotten and sidelined. With "The Future of Radio Art" LIGNA have created a 55-minute radio play which functions simultaneously as a discourse about radio art and as a performative intervention in public space. The radio play (in German and English; there is also a Polish version) explores the subject of “radio”; it deals with the way that listening to the radio always alters the situation in which listening occurs. It deals with the combinations of listeners created by radio, and with the potential of these combinations. The radio play suggests simple activities to listeners at home so they can see what radio is capable of. The piece will be broadcasted in public on 29 July 2005 in Stralsund’s pedestrian area, and on Wrocław’s main square on 6 December 2005. In each town, the programme is diffusely audible in the surrounding area and thereby alters the sonic situation on the streets.
[ LIGNA – “The Future of Radio Art" ]

Tomasz Gwińciński, P. and the Wolf (The Theory of Averageness), R_C 2005
First broadcast: 3 August 2005, 8:30 p.m.
In his work, Tomasz Gwińciński establishes a connection to the Polish tradition of readings and radio plays. "P. and the Wolf (The Theory of Averageness)" is a musical fairytale which expands on the dialogues between instruments, but which also displays the use of voices and sounds from old Polish children’s records which were released in the 1970s and 1980s as sound audio plays. The composition is performed by a chamber orchestra, electronic instruments, and a voice. "The Theory of Averageness" by Krzysztof Gruse supplies the textual foundation.
[ Tomasz Gwińciński, P. and the Wolf (The Theory of Averageness) ]

Marc Degens and Jarek Grzesica, Der Versuch, über etwas anderes als mich zu sprechen, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 11 August 2005, 8:30 p.m.
In "Der Versuch, über etwas anderes als mich zu sprechen" the text by Berlin author Marc Degens meets the sonic world of Polish sound artist Jarek Grzesica. The text describes three short tales from a boy’s childhood in the 1970s and ‘80s. In these episodes, the boy meets other people on the streets in his neighbourhood. The encounters obviously play an important role in his development. Recordings of the text in German, Polish and English form the raw material for the work of Jarek Grzesica, who arranged the three pieces and integrated them in his sound.
[ Marc Degens/ Jarek Grzesica - "Der Versuch, über etwas anderes als mich selbst zu sprechen" ]

Michał Górczyński, Jan Duszyński, and Tomasz Duda, Energistic Radio, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 10 August 2005, 8:30 p.m.
The radio performance "Energistic Radio" is a 50-minute joint project by young Polish composer and improvisation artist Michał Górczyński, the composer Jan Duszyński, and the interpreting artist Tomasz Duda. What begins as a sonic abstract radio studio develops into a piece of improvisation based on Michał Górczyńskis "Energistic Manifesto". Inspiration is derived from various musical genres, from the sounds of everyday life, and from the sonic characteristics of particular geographical regions; these sources are handled in such a way that the listeners thinks they can recognise familiar sounds amid the dense palette of sonic material. Adhering to the Energistic Manifesto, this all takes place on a level which approaches the sources of inspiration on an emotional level. In this way, Energistic Radio integrates the listener into the sonic world of the medium of radio in a subtle way and creates a counterweight to the behaviour of reception conditioned by standard-format radio, i.e. the only sounds you get to hear are the ones which can be clearly decoded.
[ Michal Górczyński, Jan Duszyński, Tomasz Duda - “Energistic Radio” ]

Radio_Copernicus @ Warsaw Autumn 2005, 1-30 September 2005


Duo Merzouga, free improvised concert, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 7 September 2005, 8:30 p.m.
As Duo Merzouga, computer musician Eva Pöpplein and bassist Janko Hanushevsky have been exploring energetically compressed soundscapes since 2002. In their compositions, they combine two completely different methods of working: Eva, for example, transforms small fragments of text into an expansive orchestral sound using electronics, while Janko attaches chopsticks or needles to his instrument in order to transform the sound. Together, these techniques create a fascinating variety of sounds: vibrating noisescapes and dense, pulsating sonic clouds meld with gentle melodies or gripping grooves.

Anne König, Images Are Faster Than Sounds, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 20 September 2005, 8:30 p.m.
This radio production combines contemporary field recordings from Leipzig with a text about the history of soundscapes. “The light from a bolt of lightning travels at 300,000 km/s, the clap of thunder is a million times slower. The observer sees lightning in a stormy sky a few moments before they hear it. I experienced a similar asynchronicity in sensory perception when Leipzig changed from month to month at the start of the 1990s. I noticed the visible change much faster than the metamorphosis in the world of sounds.” (Anne König)

Michał Jacaszek, LEM konZept, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 21 September 2005, 8:30 p.m.
"LEM konZept" takes as its starting point the fascination exerted by the novels of author Stanisław Lem. In this radio play, fragments from Lem’s Fairytales for Robots (Bajki robotów) are read by actor Niko Niakas and underscored with a special soundtrack. In this way, "LEM konZept" becomes an “impressionistic” treatment of Lem’s Fairytales and their scientific commentary on today’s world. In it, Lem tells stories about electronic machines and cosmic civilisations in the manner of traditional tales. Jacaszek reinterpreted this “trick” with sound: he combined electronic and technical sounds with magical harmonies gleaned from children’s records.

emiter.arszyn, Domowe emisje_Haus-Emissionen, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 22 September 2005, 8:30 p.m.
“The idea of playing together came to us in June 2002 after a session for the emiter project’s album # 2: static. ‘Emission’ and ‘communication’ were what connected us, so we decided to make music together. The project emiter / K. Topolski existed from June 2002 until June 2003. The current project, emiter.arszyn, is another chapter in our collaboration. We’re holding a musical dialogue which is liberated from the formal framework of a band, a group. Everything is different: improvisation, intuition and experiment set the tone for our collaborative performances.”
emiter – solo project by Marcin Dymiter / arszyn – solo project by Krzysztof Topolski

Zakład Produkcji Dźwięku, Towarzystwo Kapitana Europy, Twożywo, Einführung in Lebenskultur/Wprowadzenie do życia w kulturze, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 24 September 2005, 8:30 p.m.
The Twożywo group has prepared a range of sound materials with an experimental-fictional character. These short satirical radio plays outline typical everyday problems, in particular processes of cultural adaptation.

Underwater Agents, The Story & the Deejay – ein aleatorisches Hörspiel, R_C 2005
First broadcast: 27 September 2005, 8:30 p.m.
Radio play meets the DJ. The classic form of the story recounted in a radiophonic setting has been dismantled, dismembered, dispersed – ultimately to be reassembled in a new way in the mix. It represents the meeting of two art forms that could not be more different: the generally preproduced and therefore static radio play is subjugated to the DJ’s set, which is constantly being redefined. In this way, individual threads are woven together to form a whole which then falls apart again in the next instant. An aleatory experiment made of text fragments in Polish and German and in which the DJ becomes the storyteller.
Behind Underwater Agents is a “loose, cryptic collective associated with OSTSTUDIO in Greifswald“.
Venues
Stralsund, Warsaw, Berlin, Wrocław
Dates
Stralsund: 15 July - 21 August 2005
Warsaw: 1 - 30 September 2005
Berlin: 1 - 30 November 2005
Wrocław: 1 - 31 December 2005
Participating Institutions
Universität der Künste, Berlin
Uniwersytet Wrocławski, Wrocław
Radio_Copernicus @ garage 05, Stralsund, 15 July - 21 August 2005
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Radio_Copernicus @ Warsaw Autumn 2005
48. Festival for Contemporary Music, 1-30 September 2005

Warsaw Autumn