We [Ed Bear & Lea Bertucci]  will repurpose the iTrip Nano FM transmitter to function without an Apple iPod, giving the device a new life as a self contained open-source hardware platform for subversive/creative acts by selected contemporary artists. We will then compile and document the projects produced by these artists and develop a multimedia web and print catalog around the new work.  We have selected this specific outmoded device, the iTrip Nano FM transmitter, to exemplify the potential impact of re-engineering consumer devices originally destined for landfills.  At 80¢ each on Ebay, the low price creates unprecedented distribution opportunities for a low power transmitter and encourages end-user experimentation.

An express goal of this project is to empower artists with diverse technical and economic backgrounds to create works using radio. This constitutes a social experiment involving creative responses to a common tool.

The end product of the archive research and vigorous documentation will be an online and print multimedia book. The document’s purpose will be threefold: to provide detailed technical instruction for the iTrip hack, to document the resulting artists’ projects, and to provide critical and historical context to the newly created work

The occupation of the public in Hertzian space is fundamentally controlled by access to electronic technology.  To advance the practice of repurposing commercial electronics is to further the reach, relevance, and accessibility of transmission in art and society.  The proposed project will critically, materially, and publicly develop, experiment with, and codify the historical and contemporary relationship between creative electronics and transmission artists.

For more info and descriptions of projects in progress, please see: https://sites.google.com/site/exitrip2012/ and  http://www.free103point9.org/works/496
We are looking for writers to contribute on any of the following topics:

1.     Creative Electronics

2.     Transmission/Radio Art

3.     Parallels between Creative Electronics and Radio Arts

4.     Design Practices (Planned Obsolescence, consumerism etc)

7.     This project as social experiment and community building

8.     Electronic Waste/ Recycling

9.     Art Historical context (hacking, radio, trash art)

10.     Subverting corporate electronics/design to make weird stuff, violating FCC regulations, pirate radio, general naughtiness etc.

** This list is in no way all inclusive, so any topics that were not listed and are relevant to the project, please feel free to mention.

To Apply:

1.     A short summary of your essay.

2.     Proposed word count. We are offering three different word count ranges - Short: 700 - 1100 words, Medium: 1100 - 1800, Long: 1900 - 3000000000

3.     CV and links to any previous writing.

Deadline: Feb 15^th 2011. For questions, please email Edbearleab@gmail.com