Pyrite Radio – Field Dispatch activates short-range field radio transmissions with audio research over a series of sculptural Pyrite Radios. The opportunity to transmit using Wave Farm’s rural location, audio archive, and site-specific installations provides a platform to test and perform improvised radios with varied, dynamic, and responsive programming. This project is part of a larger series spanning several years and iterations, initially forming around historical research into a mining misadventure in the American West. Also referred to as fool’s gold, Pyrite alludes and distorts. In common abundance this mineral’s reflective mirror facets sparkles give it the superficial appearance of gold, a fact that misled many eager explorers to believe they found their fortune. Charging the stone’s more hidden potential has since been the major subject of this work; as is the question how material can be employed to expand the reach and address a diversity of audiences. Simensky’s sculptural radios and transmissions have interacted with structures that embody the idea of transmission such as Radio Towers adjacent to the Bay Bridge, sites of extraction such as the Bronson Canyon Bat Caves in Los Angeles (with live audio by Shelley Burgon and Fodo Sossoko), and iconic artworks such as Rodin’s Thinker in the courtyard of San Francisco’s Legion of Honor.

Peter Simensky is an transdisciplinary artist who has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art; Museum 52, Museum 500meter, Sapporo; and Project Row Houses, Houston. Simensky’s performances and installations have been featured at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA LA, The Swiss Institute, Wattis Institute, the ICA San Francisco, 18th Street Art Center, Santa Monica, Cabinet, and the de Young Museum. He has received grants, residencies, and awards including: NYFA Fellows Grant, Oregon Arts Commission / Hallie Ford Family Opportunity Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants, MacDowell Colony, La Tallera Proyecto Siqueiros, and Skowhegan to name a few. Selected group exhibitions include at The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Sculpture Center, Palais de Tokyo, Mass Moca, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Andrew Kreps Gallery, and Socrates Sculpture Park. Simensky Chairs the Graduate Fine Arts MFA at California College of the Arts.