About Wave Farm
Wave Farm Artist-in-Residence: Kate Donovan
5662 Route 23 | Acra, NY 12405 | 518-622-2598
http://wavefarm.org/
Kate Donovan Portrait Image. Photographed by Catherine Evans. (Mar 27, 2018)
A Bespoke Headpiece and Radio. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
All Four Girls Off in the Woods, Paddling in the Boat. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Bespoke Headpiece in Hand. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Bespoke Headpiece in Progress on Table. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Bespoke Headpiece Natural Antenna. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Kate Donovan Looking at the Camera Through the Sliding Door. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Kate Donovan Tuning A Radio Prior to Bespoke Headpiece Presentation. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Kate Donovan Tuning A Radio Prior to Bespoke Headpiece Presentation: Image 2. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Kate Donovan Working On Her Computer - View From Behind. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Kate Donovan Working On Her Computer - View From Window. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Kate Relaying "The Bespoke Headpiece" and Natural Radio to the Group. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Kate Relaying "The Bespoke Headpiece" and Natural Radio to the Group: Image 2. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Portrait of Echo Roe Wearing Her Bespoke Headpiece. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Portrait of Esme Mamousette Wearing Her Bespoke Headpiece. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Portrait of Kaylan Rennig Wearing Her Bespoke Headpiece. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
Portrait of Sophia Rennig Wearing Her Bespoke Headpiece. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
The Bespoke Headpiece Story Presentation Outside on Table. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
The Bespoke Headpiece Story Presentation Outside on Table: Image 2. Photographed by Bryan Zimmerman. (Aug 01, 2018)
"The Bespoke Headpiece" is a radio myth; one that is imagined to date back millennia. The story has travelled orally through generations of those who have lived in locations where the Aurora Borealis reveals itself, and where some women could not only see the illuminated sky, but could also hear the phenomenon. As part of a coming of age ritual girls would spend three nights alone with the Aurora night sky, wearing custom headdresses fashioned as receiving antennas, constructed of natural materials and designed to amplify the reception of sound. Folklore tells of this rite of passage, where reception was so acutely tuned that the young women alone in the night could hear voices of the deceased and the unborn. It is said that these voices provided guidance and support as the girls began their journey into adulthood.
Kate Donovan is a radio artist/practitioner, facilitator and researcher based in Berlin. Her artistic practice deals with radio in an elemental sense, in terms of frequency, transmission and interconnectedness. Her editorial and organizational work in free and community radio fosters inclusion, diversity, and experimentation. With questions of science-fact, the imagined, physical immersion and the “environment” in mind, her research (and in turn, her practice) is an exploration of radio as a natural phenomenon, an artistic medium, and a site for resistance.