Radio deComposition

2004
Damian Catera

Catera writes:"The five pieces, which comprise my 2004 Radio deComposition album represent a coming together of my research interests in randomization algorithms, as a platform for improvisation, with my long standing critical analysis of the role of broadcast media.

As these pieces rely solely on the unpredictability of live radio as source material, not on pre recorded sounds, the algorithms function not as an end, in and of themselves, but as a tool towards a conceptual end; mainly the recontextualization of live radio as a form of social commentary.

Reflecting John Cage's conception of structure as an “empty glass into which at any moment anything may be poured, the algorithms cut up and alter the incoming source material, randomizing many parameters including pitch , duration and direction. The resultant soundscape and accompanying social commentary rely on what I like to term as “happy accidents” emerging dialectically at the confluence of chaos and order.

The Radio deComposition album represented a significant step in the evolution of my creative practice yet it was really the midpoint of a group of pieces realized between '02 and '08. Although I consider this collection to be unique amongst published recordings, in terms of its combination of source material, conceptual content and compositional approach, this project’s integration of theory and practice would continue to evolve in subsequent years.

My 2006 performance Hacking Apart the American Airwaves, which was streamed live from free103's Brooklyn based studio to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, for the Unauthorized Access exhibit, painted a portrait of a post imperial United States overwhelmed by it's declining international stature and domestic race and class tensions. Performed during a time of day saturated with conservative talk radio, this piece seemed to represent a defining moment of the media spectacle as a form of ideological control."

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