ARCHIVE

Disinformation is a sound, video and kinetic art project, which, from 1995 onwards, has created a series of experimental music and sonic artworks, using electromagnetic (radio) noise from live mains electricity, communications, information technology and industrial hardware, rapid transport systems, lightning and magnetic storms, and even the sun. Disinformation has been the subject of 16 UK solo exhibitions, has contributed to nearly 70 group exhibitions, and has performed more than 150 times (across the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Japan). Aesthetica Magazine described Disinformation artworks as “mesmerising” and “hypnotic and captivating”, The Guardian newspaper described Disinformation exhibits as “some of the most beautiful installations around”, and The Metro newspaper described Disinformation as “the black-ops unit of the avant-garde”. “Tuning down into the lowest reaches of the radio spectrum, particularly in the night's shadow of the solar wind, the listener enters a world of diverse phenomena, opening an acoustic window on a world alive with electrical activity. (VLF) whistlers from lightning and thermonuclear EMP ricochet along field lines of the magnetosphere, bouncing between hemispheres of the globe; storms crackle: biostatics whisper, hiss and sigh: televisions scream: pylons and power loops drone and roar: military signals, the musical pulses of navigation systems, timecodes, and coded data broadcast deep beneath the sea. Time and space divided, live ‘vivisection’ of particle physics, voices, map lines, weapons, mirrors hidden by the illusion of quiet.” Ash 2.9 CD, R&D - Disinformation 1996 Disinformation producer Joe Banks is also author of the book “Rorschach Audio - Art & Illusion for Sound”, which was published as the final outcome of an AHRC funded Research Fellowship at Goldsmiths College and the University of Westminster.

The first “Rorschach Audio” research article was published in 1999, then revised for publication by the MIT Press in 2001. “Rorschach Audio” offers critical analyses of claims that allegedly supernatural (so-called) Electronic Voice Phenomena are recordings of ghosts, exploring relevant aspects of psychoacoustics and explaining the misinterpretation of “stray” radio voices as resulting from sonic illusions. “Rorschach Audio” stresses the influence that relatively little-known wartime intelligence work with sound had on one of the most important works of visual arts theory ever published, and asserts that “the earliest form of sound recording technology was not a machine but was written language.” “National Grid” is a pioneering and highly influential electromagnetic sound artwork, created by the artist project Disinformation, which uses interference from live mains electricity as both a literal and metaphorical source of creative energy. The lowest “G” on a piano keyboard resonates at a frequency of 49Hz, while live mains alternating current resonates (in the UK and Europe) at a frequency of 50Hz, manifesting as a very pure musical sine-wave. “National Grid” was originally recorded and performed, “played” live using the Upper and Lower Side-Band filter on a VLF-converted shortwave radio. Since then “National Grid” has been realised using direct line outputs from mains electrical transformers; with the 50Hz sine-wave being subjected to microtonal re-tuning techniques, which transform the slightly sharp “G” note into a rhythmically pulsing and deeply immersive and hypnotic low frequency sound mass. “National Grid” performances and sound installations are literally electrifying. The VLF radio version manifests as a work of exhilarating intensity, exploring the aesthetics and symbolism of electricity and of pure vibration; while the mains transformer versions manifest as highly site-specific three-dimensional sound installations, which produce a range of powerful physical, psychological and physiological resonances. Trebuchet Magazine described “National Grid” as (quote) “one of the most important and impressive sound art works of recent times”. “National Grid” was first published on LP (by the record company Ash International) and first performed live at the Disobey club night (organised by the record company Blast First), both in 1996. The sound installation version premiered at the Museum of Installation (art gallery) in July 1997. Since then “National Grid” has been performed and exhibited nearly 40 times - at (among others) the Royal College of Art (London), South London Gallery, Volksbühne (Berlin), ZKM (Karlsruhe), Kettle’s Yard (Cambridge), Hayward Gallery (London), Fabrica Gallery (Brighton), Dom Culture Centre (Moscow) and Fort Process (Newhaven). “National Grid” has been exhibited in an underground nuclear warfare command centre (the former RAF “Rotor” bunker near Anstruther, Scotland), and performed on the very desk in London’s Royal Institution where the scientist Michael Faraday demonstrated some of the most important discoveries in the history of electrical science. Several versions have been released on CD, and collaborative interpretations have been produced by Bruce Gilbert (from the punk band Wire), Jim O’Rourke (from Sonic Youth), saxophonist Evan Parker, noise musician (Paul) Nomex, and with the pioneering noise group Test Dept. This podcast - produced by Disinformation for Transmission Ecologies - features original and collaborative versions of “National Grid”, including contributions by Bruce Gilbert, saxophonists Mike Walter and Andy Knight, and sound artist llia Rogatchevski. The podcast also features historic documentary material, exploring the history, culture and politics of electrification. The Pathé News documentary “Pylon Men'' speculates that “in days to come, (electricity) pylons… may have their champions, eager to preserve them as historic monuments”, while Soviet propaganda footage discusses Lenin’s famous assertion - recently quoted in a notorious speech by the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson - that “Communism is Soviet power plus electrification”.

Curated by Afroditi Psarra, "Transmission Ecologies" explores the turbulent world of radio signals which propagate around us. Each show features a guest sound artist who broadcasts their radio experiments using EMFs, interference patterns from devices, HAM, RF field recordings, satellite signals, space astronomy research, etc. to formulate their interpretations, compositions, and translations of the invisible and unheard layer of telecommunication technologies.