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Behind the Scenes with Nadene Thériault-Copeland, Managing Director of New Adventures in Sound Art
Interview conducted by Julie Shapiro
> Is sound art experiencing a renaissance in Canada, or is has it
historically had a presence there?
Yes, sound art has historically had a presence in Canada. Many artists in
Quebec still follow the musique concrète and acousmatic art tradition begun in
France in the 1950s, which is one of the many precursors of sound art.
Additionally, over the years, conceptual visual artists across Canada have also
made sound-based works—an activity that came to a peak in the 1980s
(well-documented and contextualized in books edited by Toronto sound/radio
artist Dan Lander). This inclination has given rise more recently to the
creation of sound-based multi-media and installation works made by artists from
a variety of artistic backgrounds—theatre, digital media, sculpture, and dance.
Although sound art has been around in Canada as long as it has anywhere else,
it has not received the critical attention that it has in Europe. New
Adventures in Sound Art, along with a handful of other organizations here in
Canada, are trying to change that. We try to promote both existing and newly
created works in events that are accessible to the general public.
> And then there's radio art—sound art that's actually well-suited for
the airwaves. But that's a tricky distinction. To your ears, what makes an
audio program a veritable piece of radio art?
When a piece is radiophonic it generally means that it has used text either as
spoken text or speech within its composition or that it has derived its theme
from a poetic, literary or conceptual idea. The exact phrase "radio art" means
different things to different people. In Germany, for instance, the term radio
art is used only to describe a piece created for radio that is "cutting edge."
We use the term a little differently and perhaps in a more general way to mean
sound art for radio. I would call radio art selections "pieces" or
"compositions," rather than audio programs. Some are quite short pieces meant
more as a glimpse of something, and others are more in the radio documentary
style. What makes a veritable piece of radio art? Ingenuity, for one; the use
of sound in interesting ways. For example, a piece can stand on its own without
having a story-line attached; and a story can unfold without the use of spoken
word, through sound. This is not to say that a radio documentary can not be
considered radio art because I believe it can. It's all in how the radio
producer (or composer) uses all the options available to create a unified and
integrated experience for the listener. On a personal note, I just recently
heard a documentary on CBC radio about Nelson Mandela that was spectacular for
me as a listener because I felt as though I was reeled into the experience and
didn't want to leave that listening space—in fact, I remained in the listening
space (i.e., the auditory experience created for me by that particular piece)
for quite awhile afterwards.
> How did you solicit the radio art featured on the Deep Wireless
compilation?
A call for submissions, "Radio Without Boundaries—what is your culture?", was
disseminated nationwide. This call elicited pieces from Vancouver to
Newfoundland all conveying the word "culture" in much different ways.
> What inspired the theme for the compilation Radio Without
Boundaries—what is your culture?
The theme came about with the realization that there was not much cultural
representation at the Deep Wireless 2003 festival. We wanted to see people from
all walks of life making radio art or at least experimenting with sound beyond
the normal boundaries set by the radio medium or their culture. Although the
pieces we received for this call were diverse in nature and represented many of
the styles within Canada, it still didn't represent the vast cultural diversity
in Canada. I'm hoping with time, that this will change.
Let's hear from the producers featured here about their pieces, and how they
speak to the theme.
Chandra Bulucon on Radio—what do I do:
Radio, what do I do? was about who I was in the world at that time. I was a
radio producer and host and questioned my ability in that role and how I came
to terms with it. A lot of my work is about communication and how we interact
with one another. My work is my life, the way I think, the way in which I
communicate. Therefore, I would define my work as my culture. To be honest, I
am a little uncertain how my piece "stretches the boundaries of radio". It's
hard to know when one is achieving such a thing as that. Living in an urban
environment and constantly surrounded by other makers of art + music, filled
with collaboration and ideas far more "out there" than what I've done, it's
hard to see my work in that way. However, I can briefly say that radio is about
communication. A layer of the piece is about being the catalyst of that. The
piece, then, stretches the boundaries of radio by communicating by not
communicating.
sylvi macCormac on Railway Lines: Trains of Thought:
Railway Lines: Trains of Thought stretches the Boundaries of Radio by collaging
sound, story and song in an aural journey. This composition strives to extend
the familiar structures of radio and music, by transforming sound sources with
signal processing and combining them in creative ways, while inviting the
listener into an imaginary journey along metaphoric Railway Lines.
A child of Irish Immigrants who grew up on the West Coast of Canada, though no
longer able to walk or play an instrument because of Multiple Sclerosis, I am
"still brave" because of my community and because Electroacoustic Soundscape
composition and "New and Improved" Radio provides me access to transcend
Dis-Ability and continue to explore Fields of Sound. The Railway has both
transported and run over many lives, both first nations and immigrants, in its
quest for expansion and development. The Railway, while being sold out from
under our feet, is still symbolic of various lines
(commodities/communication/cultures) that break us apart and vibrant lines that
bind us together as community in the unique and changing cultural horizon that
is Canada.
Nicholas Longstaff on Waiting ... for love:
Radio is a medium of the voice—at least the radio I find myself listening to
most often. The interview, the news report, the ad for
whatever-it-is-which-must-be-bought-NOW-without-waiting, all these tend towards
a single voice at a time, delivering a single message. Waiting ... For Love
combines six different voices from a six-speaker installation I created many
years ago. Then, the idea was to encircle the listener in all the denials of
love I'd received and (shamefully) used myself. Now, in simple stereo, the
experience is more akin to a barrage of personality. (Think AM radio in prime
time....)
The radio is a tool of one-on-one communication. I remember well the time this
concept sunk in for me: Shelagh Rogers on CBC said to a guest, "... Remember,
most people are listening in their car, or doing dishes." Here then, with this
work, is a chance for a many-to-one relationship. But the many are all
abstracted from the one. More simply explained: I pitch-shifted my own voice
both higher and lower to create the illusion of different people speaking. This
allowed me to possess the phrases that had plagued me throughout my somewhat
unnecessarily troubled teenhood. Beyond that, I've not yet had a radio
presentation where my carefully chosen profanity is allowed to reach the ears
of the listener. It is strange to me in this time of tolerance and
open-mindedness that this should still be an issue, but there you have it: the
boundaries must be stretched.
Regarding culture: Culture reaches beyond the boundaries of skin, street name,
and shoe style. A culture is a mode of thought, and how better to illustrate
the confusion of our culture than with the heart-pounding schizophrenia of the
hopelessly romantic and helplessly unattached boy reaching everywhere for what
he needed to find in himself?
> Where are the programs on the DW compilation played? How are they
heard across Canada and elsewhere?
The point to producing the Deep Wireless 1 compilation CD was to get as many
programmers as we could to help us celebrate radio art in the month of May
2004. We sent copies of the CD to radio programmers across Canada for airplay
as well as to stations that asked for it. This included community radio
stations from the West to the East coast in Canada, 10+ stations in the US
including NPR Washington, Resonance-FM in the UK, and another station in
Mexico. It was also played on a couple of the CBC's daily shows—Definitely Not
the Opera and The Arts Today. Currently, I'm still receiving requests for
copies from radio stations both from the US and Canada.
> What are your future goals for the Deep Wireless project? Will we be
hearing more cds down the road?
Our goal is to continue to provide a reason for artists to create new works for
radio and to continue to provide radio producers with pieces that use radio in
interesting and evocative ways. Deep Wireless is an annual event that attracts
artists from across Canada, the USA and internationally. It is a celebration of
radio art in its many varied forms: radio drama, radio theatre, soundscape,
documentary, to name but a few. It is for the artist and the radio producer
alike and always will include speakers and radio works that provide both a
historical background and new and innovative ways to use the medium. We plan to
include a CD compilation with each annual Deep Wireless festival. We want to
promote radio art so that we can encourage the production of interesting radio
pieces and promote their airplay throughout May with the idea that these radio
programmers and producers will become interested in it for the long-term.
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