Though there are other forms of art that solely focus on one sense, radio art is unique in its ability to fully engage and expose the listener’s ear to a wide range of sound. We often think of the radio as something we tune into mindlessly when cooking Sunday brunch, or taking a quick drive in the car. But delving deeper into its world, I’ve come to recognise radio as an art form just as expressive as any other.
Similar to streaming music, radio is an entirely aural art form, meaning that any sounds heard are carefully curated to fit the composers’ intention. However, unlike streaming music, radio pieces are often left forgotten and undiscovered by the masses, which beautifully leaves space for it to be as experimental and narrative as possible. This promotes close, attentive listening, continuous listening.
One of the first notable radio art pieces, broadcasted on Radio Frankfurt in 1924, was Zauberei auf dem Sender: Versuch euner Rundfunkgroteske (Wizardry on the Air: Attempt at a Radio Grotesque). Hans Flesch created created this piece by fusing together elements of radio documentary, soundscape recordings, and electroacoustic music. Though this is a piece I have only read about, it interests me through it’s fusion of fiction and reality. In this piece, Flesch sets his scene in the broadcast studio, fictionalising it by using “sonic illusions” to create his story of a wizard interrupting the broadcast. This shows how radio art can go beyond boundaries, creating a listening experience like no other.
On a more modern note, we can take a look at Gregory Whitehead and his “screamscape”. Described by Whitehead himself as at times feeling like a “psycho-acoustic descent into primeval chaos”, preparation for his broadcast included weeks of receiving peoples’ screams through his “screamline” and “screamroom”, which was then monitored. What I love about Whitehead’s preparation for his broadcast is that it feels almost like a scientific investigation, which it kind of proved to be- upon monitoring the scream flow, Whitehead came to realise the sounds of the screams through the phone became distorted, with the technology not able to process such vocal power. This could be considered the first stage of creating the art, as it’s no longer the raw voices (screams) of the caller, the quality has been manipulated using technology, even if unintended.
All in all, radio art can be as imaginative as you make it, well as long as it follows radio regulations, and can have just as much as an artistic impact as a painting, song or installation. Birthed from the Futurist and Dadaist movements, there’s no wonder radio art strives to be abstract, using soundscapes, to be a part of sound art in a general sense.