About this project

Free Radio is...

Short Synopsis: Free Radio is a community-based project that will use the CUE Art Foundation gallery (cueartfoundation.org) from March 22 – May 5, 2012 as a laboratory in which a different local community will be aided each week with the construction of an on-site radio station and the development of  programming relative to that community. Each one-week session will be comprised of a series of activities directed toward community building, the development of a voice, archiving that voice, and learning skills associated with broadcast technology to disseminate that voice. One group will work with the renowned MothSHOP (themoth.org). Each session will culminate in a public broadcast produced entirely by that community and transmitted to the greater New York City Metropolitan Area.

For more information about the project see the CUE Art Foundation Site http://www.cueartfoundation.org/open_call.html

Longer Synopsis: Free Radio is a community-based project that will use the CUE Art Foundation gallery (cueartfoundation.org) from March 22 – May 5, 2012 as a laboratory in which a different local community will be aided each week with the construction of an on-site radio station and the development of  programming relative to that community. Each one-week session will be comprised of a series of activities directed toward community building, the development of a voice, archiving that voice, and learning skills associated with broadcast technology to disseminate that voice. One group will work with the renowned MothSHOP (themoth.org). Each session will culminate in a public broadcast produced entirely by that community and transmitted to the greater New York City Metropolitan Area. This whole process will be perpetually archived and transmitted via the Internet as well so as to simultaneously preserve and broadcast the process beyond the walls of the gallery and the range of the radio broadcast. The ultimate goal of this project is to publically seed community development and training relative to radio broadcasting so as to make the notion of organizing a community to broadcast its voice something that is both more valuable and accessible to the public at large.

Free Radio was conceived of by artists, is sited at the CUE Art Foundation, and driven by the reconsideration of a gallery as a cultural hub altogether so as not only to be a place that uses art to catalyze discourse and the dissemination of information, but also a site for tool building while mining and solidifying the identity of a community. Free Radio was born out of a belief that every community has a voice that could be a relevant part of a larger society, and an investment in the development and proliferation of this voice will make its community richer and in doing so contribute exponentially to a population outside of its own. This project is made possible by an international organization of people ranging from artists and computer hackers to scientists and educators who are in place to work with specific local communities to facilitate community individuation, the development of a voice, and the weekly building of a functioning radio station and culminating broadcast for the dissemination of that voice.

Free Radio hybridizes the idea of a sourdough starter and the notion that teaching someone how to fish is more valuable and resonant than merely giving someone fish. Free Radio is as much about being a witness as it is about being a participant. As such, a primary concern is the incubation and perpetual broadcast of this process of community individuation and the mass dissemination of a voice, whether live or as an archived loop on the Internet. It is about the mass distribution of open-source information, which focuses on the democratization of a technology that is free to access, relatively ungovernable, easy to build, and so important to a free society, radio.

For more information about the project see the CUE Art Foundation Site http://www.cueartfoundation.org/open_call.html

Your support...

Your support is integral to the success of this project. Though we have a good jump on things, we still need considerable funding for technology, building materials, the Free Radio Manual, and shipping and travel, as well as resources for the programming our partnering groups will be developing. Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated!

Who we are...

This project is being developed by a group of collaborators ranging from artists and computer hackers to scientists and educators who are in place to work with specific local communities to facilitate community individuation, the development of a voice, the weekly building of a functioning radio station and culminating broadcasting of that voice. 

Brian Gillis, Artist and Educator, Eugene, Oregon gillislab.com

Robin Lambert, Artist and Educator, Alberta, Canada robinlambert.ca

Elizabeth Dunn-Ruiz, Writer and Educator, New York, New York verbalpyrotechnics.com

Mike Miller, Artist and Educator, Springfield, Illinois mikemillerstudio.com

John Park, Artist and Educator Eugene, Oregon johnparkonline.com

Marc Debernardis, Head of Saint James Productions from Brooklyn, New York saintjamesproductions.com

Y O U !                                                                                                                   The people who have a voice and make up a community, that makes up a town, that makes up a county, that makes up a state, that makes up a country, that makes up the world.

For more information about the project see the CUE Art Foundation Site http://www.cueartfoundation.org/open_call.html

Rewards...

Because Free Radio hybridizes the idea of a sourdough starter and the notion that teaching someone how to fish is more valuable than just giving them fish,  the mass distribution of the project's content is a major part of the project. The project will generate a website, postcards, posters, stickers, CDs of historic recordings, a users manual, and the opportunity to broadcast your voice. One such reward that will be particularly important to the Free Radio project is the Free Radio Manual, another could be your voice on the airwaves!

The Manual... As a part of the exhibition we will be publishing a Free Radio Manual. Included therein will be step by step instructions about the production of the radio technology and broadcasts, informational chapters about the history of radio, ways in which radio led to social equity, and essays by scholars and pirate radio practitioners, and more!

Your Voice... If you pledge $100 we will add a limited duration recording of your voice to the on site library from which participating groups will mine content. If you pledge $500 and submit broadcast appropriate material, we will broadcast up to 30 seconds of your voice. If you pledge $1000 of broadcast appropriate material, we will broadcast up to ONE MINUTE of your voice!

Free Radio was born out of a belief that every community has a voice that could be a relevant part of a larger society, and an investment in the development and proliferation of this voice will make its community richer and in doing so contribute exponentially to a population outside of its own.               

Thank you so much for reading about Free Radio. We hope you too can contribute!                                                                                                             

 

 

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