hi!

My practice as a writer has been developing towards audio work, and I have been more and more interested in the medium of radio as a platform for showing my own work, and also in radio’s possible uses as a tool of social empowerment. I am wishing to understand how radio is being used by artists and activists to create spaces that function as community centres, and how radio can be used to facilitate well being for individuals and in localities.
I will need to define what I understand by ‘community’, and also clarify which model of radio I will be studying.

I will be avoiding an ethnographic definition of community, as that is a life times’ work in itself- instead I will work around the ideas and writings of radio and audio artists (Gregory Whitehead, Allen Weiss, Charles Bernstein) and also other writers, artists and activists that offer definitions of community movements that I see Soundart radio as aligning itself alongside (Joan Retallack’s ‘dialogic community’, bell hooks’ ‘communities of resistance’, Felix Guattari’s ‘free radio’ etc.).


Radio for this CEP is a small local public broadcasting venture called Soundart Radio 102.5 FM, which broadcasts under a community license- it is not run for political or commercial gain, it is run by and on behalf of its listening community, and represents both the community of its geographical area, and also radio as a living and historic ‘hot’ media with a international community of listeners, producers, makers and enthusiasts. I will be seeking to understand how Soundart radio fulfils the role of community /ies, and how it serves the desires of said community /ies, and will be reflecting upon and monitoring my own interaction with these ideas as a individual participating, listening and producing, and process this into both audio and writing documentations.

Broadcasting can be considered as a mirror to the way we live, and I am interested in programming and stations that offer alternative and considered options within their scheduling.

Radio art requires a consistent body of research and practice that concentrates on sound at its point of signification, not a literal reading that will collapse into cliché, but a sensitivity to the ways in which meaning in sound circulates, dissipates and re-emerges. The development of an autonomous body of theory and practice regarding aural referentuality- in particular as it relates to radio and electronic media- will contribute to a better understanding of the role that radio art plays in the articulation of social and cultural ideas. (Lander,D. 1994, Radiocastings: musings on radio and art in Radio Rethink



The two community models I will be focusing on are individuals sharing a geographically related relationship within the area of FM reception, and also communities physically distant but still communing /communicating, thorough both FM and Internet radio. I will be looking the social benefits of participation in the arts:

Personal: growth in confidence, creative and transferable skills, social lives are improved through friendships, enjoyment and involvement in the community. In a wider social context: confidence of minority and marginalised groups is gained, promoting social cohesion. There is empowerment of a community to be involved in local affairs, a strengthened commitment to place and an ability to tackle problems. Provides the opportunity to take positive risks, contribute to education and personal and social change (Matarasso, F, 1997: ‘Use or Ornament? Social impact of participation in the arts’ p79-81).



I have secured a practical intern-ship at Soundart radio from September through till December 2010. This community radio station's location, programming and programmers, its geographical area, it's international and local outreach projects and its ethos and manifesto are all relevant to my enquiry.
My particular artistic interest lies with

Transmissions that Publicise the Private, or through an opening of dialogic space create new energy and directions within a social order.

Programming that re-instates the authority of chaos and chance, within the context of a functioning community.

Broadcasting that foregrounds and celebrates ambiguity and individuality, supported by structures of acceptance and value.

Work that transforms attention into action and revitalizes languages’ and radio’s uses in the public sphere.


I intend to immerse myself in the life of this small radio station for my time there.

Monday, 29 November 2010

colation, digestion, some new avenue for digression

Today i have mostly been.... interviewing.
Winding up my CEP ready for a fierce spurt of presentation arrangement- I have the whole of December- but, get this, I'm a single parent mom, so in reality, i got around three weeks...   :-) mustn't grumble...
the plan :

Jennifer Wellwood   Writing (with sonic arts practices) BA      
CEP update:                                                                                  fri 25 Nov 2010
I have completed 10 weeks at Soundart radio- immersing myself in day to day running of the studio and as many projects as possible. I have produced and broadcast just over an hour of live original material, and spent near to 60 hours in the studio.
I am winding down my ‘station time’ from Monday 29th, and concentrating on completing these projects:
*Compiling responses to the surveys and questionnaires I have created, via Internet, telephone and in person (for staff and committee of the station, for the member ship, for artists i have worked with over the last 2 months)
*Totnes town council meeting recordings and broadcasts, and supporting material/PR
*Bound For Glory (last 24hr sslloowwssuunnddaayy of 2010) for the 19th December,for which I hope to compose 2 x 10 minute works from recordings already made in London, and at the DCA class of 2010 graduation.) THIS IS THE VERY EXCITING ONE!!!
*I am also still organizing ssllooww ssuunnddaayy programme through till December 12th- but this is a small amount of deskwork as the artists have provided the work ready for broadcast


Regarding my CEP presentation in early January 2011, I will be working on a script covering:
(4 minutes intro and conclusion, 6 mins each the other 4, = 30 minutes)

Introduction
Community    inclusion/ locale/ international      
UNSANE RHAPSODY
Radio     medium’s qualities/possibilities             
SLOW SUNDAY
Art/ experiment/ expression/dialogue                 
AUDIO OUTREACH
Legality/ authority/ official/ self regulation          
TOWN COUNCIL BROADCASTS
Conclusion


The  caps lock names are shows that I have been involved with that I can to illustrate my discoveries.
I hope to broadcast the audio aspect of my presentation over radio live from Soundwave radio in Falmouth, to be received  in my tutor's car- a mix down of radio work, interview, white noise, music, over which I can ‘jam’ live speech and pre-recordings broadcasting out of Soundwave. (this choice of venue is pertinent to the presentation- a radio listening environment much more natural than a studio in the Falmouth Uni performance centre- which highlights interesting aspects of RADIO USE)

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