ARCHIVE

Radio Cycle 101.4FM (Audio)

Dec 21, 2020
Created by Kaffe Matthews (2003). Introduced by Jess Speer.

Commissioned by INTERFERENCE:PUBLIC SOUND, Matthews installed a radio transmitter on the roof of Annette Works Studio in London’s East End, where it broadcast continuously from July 13-20, 2003. Bikes outfitted with radios followed mapped routes as “scores” and performed the pieces by riding while broadcasting the radio station. Community members were invited to workshops to make their own radio programs and help create the map scores for their pieces. 

Among the first of her radio-related projects, Radio Cycle 101.4 FM explored the dynamic relationship between sound, place, audience, performer, and the members of a community. When asked about her interest in radio in a Bomb Magazine interview in 2004, Matthews said, “Radio is free. Radio is private. Radio as a whole is a means of communicating; its power is astonishing. Radio is about the vibrations of molecules. It happens in the air. And that is what my music is about in general, it’s about hearing the air. So radio has begun to play an increasingly important role in my work.” Indeed, the project informed later projects such as Three Crosses of Queensbridge, Sonic Bikes, and The Marvolo Project. “I think it’s simply because I’m interested in a listening awareness,” Matthews said. “It’s a whole different world when you’re really listening. At the core, that’s what it’s about, turning people on to doing that." - Introduced Wave Farm Radio Artist Fellow 2020/2021, Jess Speer.