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.

Contextual Enquiry Project proposal- but remember! Its a proposal, not a contract :-)

Contextual Enquiry Project proposal:  Jennifer Wellwood Writing (scripted media) with sound arts practises


I wish to study community on the radio. I want to look at the contexts of progressive relationships in transmission.

Beginning my autumn 2009 project... Trying to reign in my 'punk' for a more even experience, but its hard..... I love Kafka's "why read books that are not like being hit over the head?" (misquote) and Andre Stitt's "art is not a mirror it's a fucking hammer".

Those quotes are a flavor of something tangible- how art, a communication, or experience, can be cathartic or transformative. Not to say it needs to be vulgar! Subtlety and silence work magic too, but they offer statement which can be lost if it is not placed with particular consideration, especially in the public sphere, where maybe messages of hope and challenge are most needed.

This is what interests me in this BA degree, and what I wish to pursue across the airwaves :-)

i write in a pen on anything that will take ink usually- type is a friend, but 'blogger' is new. 
I account for myself:
female mother adventurer amazed intrigued intoxicated with it all...
I am reading theory that shares artistic passion (wow don't we need it now to keep our feet on the ground) with social responsibility: that starts at recognising issues, and responding honestly.

My context of this study is 'Soundart Radio 102.5 fm'. This small community radio station in rural Devon advocates sonic freedom of expression, and as free speech is tied directly or indirectly? to a communities' owned/free (or lack of owned/ free?) media, I am interested in finding out how Soundart Radio satisfies the desires of its community, how this 'community' is constructed, the relationships between listening and producing, listeners and producers, and the relationships between historical radio models and Soundart Radios' current model and direction...


I intend to immerse myself in the life of this small radio station for my time there....
Actions to be taken:
*I will be volunteering at the station in my free time over the summer break.
*I will be writing a blog http://longlegsrunning.blogspot.com/- to document my CEP. Up and running currently, but with a focus on more definite and regular entries from October through till January.
1 Contact artists to request work for ssllooww ssuunnddaayy and publicise this show.
2 Research deep listening techniques, values of listening cultures, styles of audio arts
3 Interview the community and listening public, I will interview as many members of the locality as I can and ask them for their definitions of ‘community’, collate findings and then use the interviews to generate an audio montage for broadcast.
4 Read the programming schedule and map producers and listeners
5 Close read contracts, project briefs, membership agreements etc
6 Working in publicity and promotion on behalf of Soundart radio. Developing schemes to forward its work in the area.
7 Develop projects that work with local community interest such as record and broadcast local council public monthly meeting.
8 Be active in the radio community- attend meetings, workshops, work days, planning sessions, volunteer at events etc
9 Attend national radio events: namely sound: site 2nd November, and Cut and Splice, 4th,5th,6th October- two events focusing on audio arts and sonic transmissions.
10 Make and produce a short weekly arts piece, starting in November.
11. Produce a live ssllooww ssuunnddaayy of my own devising.
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