TRANSMISSION ART ARCHIVE

Soft Broadcast Spectre Sound

2018

Clara Lou

Clara Lou Listening to a Cassette Tape. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Clara Lou Field Recording With Cassette Tape. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Clara Lou Inserting A Cassette In Tape Deck. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Clara Lou With Radio. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Clara Lou With Radios: Image 2. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Detail 2 of Residency Project Notebook. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Detail of Box of Magnetic Tape. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Detail of Residency Project Notebook. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Playing An Offset Record. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Portrait of Clara Lou At Her Indoor Work Station. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Portrait of Clara Lou Through the Brush. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Portrait of Clara Lou Through the Window. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

Portrait of Clara Lou Walking On Grass Path. Photo by Bryan Zimmerman. (Sep 26, 2018)

"Soft Broadcast Spectre Sound" is a radio play, mixed live where multiple transmission frequencies serve as both instrumentation and performers. The live mix is performed by moving the radio dial in a structured improvisation. For example, one character's lines may be transmitted on 87.9-FM and another character's lines on 87.7-FM. Lou moves the dial back and forth between the two frequencies in order to "perform" the dialogue. The imperfections of transmission technology are also considered, as signal bleed is embraced and intentional. Commercial radio is integrated the performance, allowing Top 40, Bible radio, and so on to intersperse with the artist's original recordings. Lou’s fractured narrative incorporates Foley, derived from tools and toys in the Wave Farm broadcast studio and augmented by household items, but here the artist employs a craft usually oriented towards making scene more easily graspable, to complicate the narrative space.