Acra, NY— Wave Farm announced today eight recipients of the 2016 Media Arts Assistance Fund for artists: Annie Berman, Brenda Ann Kenneally, Eli Keszler, Joseph McKay, John Morton, Erik Moskowitz and Amanda Trager, Margo Pelletier, and Sue C Perlgut.

The Media Arts Assistance Fund (MAAF) supports electronic media and film organizations, as well as individual artists, in all regions of New York State. The Fund provides unique and critical support with a focus on sustainability and public engagement. Grants to media artists support the distribution and exhibition of works in all genres of time-based and moving image media, including emergent technology. Funding assists artists in making recently completed works available to public audiences. Wave Farm’s Media Arts Assistance Fund is a Regrant Partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Electronic Media and Film Program.

NYSCA Electronic Media & Film Program Director, Karen Helmerson, said “The NYSCA Regrant program managed by Wave Farm benefits our community in many important ways. This investment of public funds in New York State for art, culture, and heritage activities create opportunities for public engagement in the media arts, development of new technologies, and support for artists’ work, including their significant contribution to the creative economy.”

Wave Farm Executive Director Galen Joseph-Hunter said, “Wave Farm is delighted to be able to support these eight outstanding projects, that represent the diversity of the media arts landscape in New York State.” The Media Arts Assistance Fund for Artists opportunity is in January, annually. Grantees are selected through a competitive panel process. Detailed information about the 2016 MAAF projects is included on the following pages of this release.

The New York State Council on the Arts is dedicated to preserving and expanding the rich and diverse cultural resources that are and will become the heritage of New York's citizens. The Council believes in artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists without censure, and the rights of all New Yorkers to access and experience the power of the arts and culture, and the vital contribution the arts make to the quality of life in New York communities. http://arts.ny.gov

Wave Farm is a non-profit arts organization that celebrates creative and community use of media and the airwaves. Our programs provide access to transmission technologies and support artists and organizations that engage with media as an art form. For more information, visit http://wavefarm.org

The Media Arts Assistance Fund for Artists 2016 Grantees and Project Descriptions

Annie Berman—Utopia 1.0: Post-Neo-Futurist-Capitalism in 3D!
Utopia 1.0: Post-Neo-Futurist-Capitalism in 3D! is a first-person cinematic expedition to Second Life, the once thriving virtual 3D online world, in search of what remains. Writes Berman, “Our guide navigates this strange, abandoned landscape seeking to understand the socio-economic desires of its residents, who, together, built this community-generated 3D world. Given the invitation to come build anything imaginable, what is it that we chose to create? Is it possible to imagine a new world; or, are we destined to replicate our existing world?” MAAF funding will support the distribution of the piece for VR.

Brenda Ann Kenneally—Upstate Girls: Unraveling Collar City
A traveling transmedia history of one block in North Central Troy, Upstate Girls: Unraveling Collar City will be exhibited inside a 20-foot U-Haul truck on the block it documents in Fall 2016. The exhibition is part of a larger more permanent collection, The North Troy Peoples History Museum, opening at the same time, in partnership with The Sanctuary for Independent Media and residents of the neighborhood. Both projects aim to expand the conversation about daily life in a specific and local community. In addition, Upstate Girls: Unraveling Collar City will travel to schools through out upstate New York, in connection with the publication of the forthcoming book “Upstate Girls: Unraveling Collar City” (Regan Arts: New York, Fall 2016/Spring 2017).

Eli Keszler—Rake Receiver
Rake Receiver is a work that draws from a wide range of digital archives--from 24/7 streaming remote environments, government broadcasts, to radio transmissions from around the world. The piece is encased in a small metal and plastic enclosure appearing somewhere between music box, speaker, radio, and a discrete minimalist enclosed technology. It is both a record and a new hybrid broadcasting device, as well as a composition that morphs the complexities of digital media into units of musical information. The work will be manufactured and distributed as an edition of 500.

Joseph McKay—Omega Mouse and Four Mice
McKay’s Omega Mouse is a simple 6-player video game. Four Mice is a two-player game where each player uses two mice to play. Both are fun and addictive games, but also belong in an art gallery context where fun addictive games are not the norm. Four Mice is currently on display in The Bret Llewellyn Art Gallery at Alfred State College, and Omega Mouse debuted at Postmasters Gallery in New York, December 2015. Both exhibitions to date have relied on borrowed equipment. With MAAF support, McKay will acquire the hardware elements needed to secure additional exhibition opportunities, and reach new audiences.

John Morton—Sound Bridge
Sound Bridge is an interactive sound installation exhibited on a pedestrian bridge in downtown Yonkers. Four sensors are placed along the railing of the bridge, and visitors are invited to activate and manipulate the sounds (made of field recordings of industrial activities, environmental sounds, and oral histories from Yonkers) and to musically respond to other visitors and to the environment. Initially designed as a two-year installation, MAAF funds will enable Sound Bridge to be winterized and remain installed long-term, as well as create a web presence for the work, linking the live sonic output of the installation with the addition of a "play at home" version.

Erik Moskowitz and Amanda Trager—TWO RUSSIANS IN THE FREE WORLD
Write Moskowitz and Trager, “A billionaire who doesn't collect art. An artist who doesn’t make art. In this manner of non-action/non-productivity, Manni and Sasha are introduced.” TWO RUSSIANS IN THE FREE WORLD maps connections between artistic inspiration, love, and the marketplace. The work exists as a video installation and a single-channel film. A final manifestation of the project is a series of eight webisodes that will be self-distributed on a web portal that allows for moderated public discourse and editorial commentary. Inspired by popular episodics, the narrative features suspense, humor, and densely-packed dialogue—devices that are put forward within the webisodic, web-portal format.

Margo Pelletier—Thirsty
Directed by Margo Pelletier, THIRSTY is a post-queer, musical film based on the life of Scott Townsend a.k.a., Thirsty Burlington, Provincetown, Massachusetts’ #1 Cher impersonator. Presented within a wild and entertaining framework, the film explores important issues surrounding: gender, bullying, persecution, acceptance, the power of self-invention and self-realization. THIRSTY was filmed in New York’s Hudson Valley and Capitol regions and is currently being submitted to film festivals, which will determine where it will have its world premiere.

Sue C Perlgut—Connie Cook: A Documentary
New York Republican Assemblywoman Constance Cook was one of only three women in the Assembly when she was elected in 1962. In 1970, she passed a bill in Albany that decriminalized abortion; three years later Roe v. Wade was based on her legislation. Connie Cook: A Documentary shows that she was a visionary advocating for women’s rights in health, government, education, and religious institutions. MAAF support will assist Perlgut in self-distributing the film to teens, college age women, women’s groups, and health clinics across the country.

For more information about the Media Arts Assistance Fund please visit http://wavefarm.org/mag

Lady Moon & The Eclipse, "Rollercoaster" from the forthcoming debut EP "Believe."


Mary Lattimore, "Jimmy V" from "At The Dam" (Ghostly)


Becky Pine, who graduated from Cairo High School, "Starting Over." Her "Perfect Timing" EP was released this week.


ANOHNI, "Drone Bomb Me."

Explosions In the Sky, "Logic of a Dream" from The Wilderness.


Rangda, "To Melt The Moon" from "The Heretic's Bargain" (Drag City)


Dust Bowl Faeries, "Hudson River Shanty" from "Dust Bowl Faeries" album.


Bonobo, "Ghomrassen" made from all "Star Wars" samples from Hollywood Records.


Cate Le Bon, "Wonderful" from "Crab Day" (Drag City).


Heron Oblivion, "Oriar" from "Heron Oblivion" (Sub Pop)


Glitterbust, "The Highline," Kim Gordon's new band, on Burger Records.

March 3 House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade meeting, chaired by Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), on a review of wearable technology: Internet-connected devices or apparel physically worn by the user. This will air at 3 a.m. March 5 on Wave Farm Radio and WGXC (90.7-FM).

Jim O'Rourke, "Steamroom 25"



Justin Lombardi played Kanye West's new "Waves" backwards.



The Simpsons' "The Debateful Eight"

In the winter of 2013, Greg Fox was invited by master jazz drummer and holistic healer, Milford Graves to visit his basement lab in Queens, NY. It was there that Mr. Graves had spent years developing technology to generate music from the natural rhythms of the human heart. This music, according to Milford, could be used both as a diagnostic tool for human health and as means for musicians to find and follow their own natural rhythms. A willing subject of Milford’s experiments, Greg Fox was fitted with specialized bio-sensing machinery connected to a computer programmed with custom software that allowed him, for the first time, to hear the the music of his own body. The elaborate score resulting from this visit was then used as the basis for the compositions found on Mitral Transmission. Much like his drumming in the bands Liturgy and Guardian Alien, this work can be unflinchingly explosive, fluttering and merciless in one instance, poised and withholding in the next – seeming only to channel what is vital and in the moment. The sampled instrumentation is deliberately minimal yet richly nuanced – brought to life by the rhythmic and tonal complexities Greg’s body. A clear progression from his recent work with Zs Mitral Transmission is a lucid and masterfully dynamic exploration in the tradition of biofeedback and generative music.

SWANS from Marco Barotti on Vimeo.

Ars Technica reports that a Jan. 26 Federal Communications Commission letter gets Google's dream of a fleet of balloons-as-cell-towers closer to reality. The FCC recently wrote that, "Google’s proposed testing does not pose health or environmental risks," and "Google will avoid harmful interference to other users of the E-band." The plan, which has been referred to as Project Loon, is a "nationwide testing of airborne and terrestrial transmitters in the 71-76 and 81-86 GHz bands (collectively, the E-band)." On the ground, Google customers would point their antennae toward the sky at balloons across the country to get LTE service, if the tests are successful. Google is trying to keep things secret, with a "two-year nationwide test." Ars Technica explains that these frequencies now are, "often deployed as a wireless backhaul option for network providers." Current E-Band applications often use highly directional antennas for multi-gigabit speeds over a mile or two, and Google says since the antennae would be pointed in different directions -- horizontal for current uses, and vertical for the balloons -- there would be little interference. Google says there is "no factual basis" that the RF energy from the balloons would or could harm people or animals. Google needs the FCC and Federal Aviation Authority to complete signing off on their two-year test. For now, the company has permission to test the balloons in California and Nevada.

The Washington Post reports that Iran's state media boasted Jan. 29 that they flew a radio-controlled drone over a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. A U.S. Navy spokesman would not confirm the authenticity of the video released in Iran, but said that on Jan. 12 an Iranian drone was spotted over the French carrier Charles de Gaulle and the American carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy says they were in international waters, and the drone was unarmed, so they left it alone. A U.S. Navy helicopter was launched from the Truman to view the drone. The same day, ten U.S. sailors were detained by Iranian Revolutionary Guard naval forces nearby, closer to Farsi Island, after their boat veered off course with mechanical trouble. Those U.S. sailors were paraded, hands-up, on Iranian television before being released.

“Astro Noise,” from filmmaker and activist Laura Poitras opens at the Whitney Museum in New York Feb. 5, running through May 1. The images in the exhibit broke news last week -- some of the pictures in the show are descrambled images from Israeli and Syrian drone feeds. "The Intercept" Jan. 29 published documents leaked from Edward Snowden that showed the United States and Britain have hacked transmissions from secret drone flights and communications from the Israeli Air Force since 1998. Yuval Steinitz, the minister of national infrastructure and energy told Army Radio last week, “We will now have to look and consider changing the encryption, certainly.” Poitras is forever linked to Snowden, and has been detained, interrogated, and searched dozens of times at airports, and also won an Academy Award, for “Citizenfour.” The Whitney describes "Astro Noise" saying, "This immersive installation of new work builds on topics important to Poitras, including mass surveillance, the war on terror, the U.S. drone program, Guantánamo Bay Prison, occupation, and torture."

Click here to play or download an audio version of this report. Republicans held their final debate Jan. 28, before voters begin casting ballots around the nation, and by our count, less then two minutes were devoted to internet- or broadcast-related matters. Ohio Gov. John Kasich was asked about encryption, and said it was better not to talk about it. And Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul repeatedly inserted that the rest of the candidates were ignoring basic rights of Americans by supporting warrantless government surveillance. Click here to hear what they said.

Click here to download or play the Jan. 30-Feb. 5, 2016 edition of "This Week in Radio News." This week tune in Federal Communications Commissioner Tom Wheeler, and his press conference following the FCC's January 28 Open Meeting. Also, new transmission art from Daniel Thomas, and a new song from Chris Forsyth and the Solar Motel Band. Some radio headlines this week: FAA says 300,000 drones were registered in U.S. in first month; Ukraine, Israel electrical recent targets for hackers.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy, "When Thy Song Flows Through Me" from "Pond Scum" (Drag City)




Daniel Thomas "Broadcast" (Cherry Row) album.




Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band "High Castle Rock" from "The Rarity of Experience" (No Quarter)




Woods, "Sun City Creeps"




Middle Grey, "We Are Lifting Off in Hopes to One Day Touch the Ground" from Hyperobjects (New Hive). Middle Grey is a collaboration between Anastasia Clarke and Jackson Randall.

The Commission considered items on Expansion of Online Public File; Improving the Nation's Public Alert and Warning Systems; and the Broadband Progress Report. Held on Thursday, January 28, 2016 at FCC Headquarters in Washington, DC. For more information, see https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2016/01/january-2016-open-commission-meeting

The evil plots of superhero movies are beginning to become reality around the world. On Dec. 23, Ukraine claims computer hackers caused blackouts across the Ivano-Frankivsk region, perhaps using so-called “BlackEnergy” malware to disrupt local energy provider Prykarpattyaoblenergo. Ukraine believed Russia was behind the attack. Now this week, Israel's Electricity Authority was hacked, though no electricity delivery was disrupted. "The virus was already identified and the right software was already prepared to neutralize it," Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told The Times of Israel on Jan. 26. "We had to paralyze many of the computers of the Israeli Electricity Authority. We are handling the situation and I hope that soon, this very serious event will be over … but as of now, computer systems are still not working as they should." Israel did not point fingers at suspects, but it is clear there is all sorts of state-sponsored terrorism going on on the information superhighway.

The Guardian reported that nearly 300,000 radio-controlled drones have been registered in the United States, since the Federal Aviation Administration started requiring owners tell the government they have a drone on Dec. 21, 2015. Now, small unmanned aircraft weighing between 250g and 25kg must be registered and pilots must be aged 13 or older. FAA administrator Michael Huerta said, “The registration numbers we’re seeing so far are very encouraging. We’re working hard to build on this early momentum and ensure everyone understands the registration requirement.” Since Jan. 21, there's been a $5 registration fee. Drones must get marked with a registration number, so they can be identified if there is a problem. The industry was expecting one million drones would be sold in the U.S. in 2015, which would mean only a third are registered.

Eleanor Friedberger, a member of The Fiery Furnaces, and her song "He Didn't Mention His Mother," from "New View" (French Kiss) album recorded with producer Clemens Knieper in his converted barn studio in Germantown, New York.


Explosions in the Sky, "Disintegration Anxiety," off the forthcoming album "The Wilderness."


Half Japanese, "That Is That" from Perfect (Joyful Noise).

NOAA is testing a new weather radio voice. Click here for a sample of the new voice, and here for a sample of the old voice.

Paul Riismandel at Radio Survivor reports that Live365, a streaming audio service that started in 1999, will shut down Jan. 31. The service made setting up an internet radio station easy for anyone. “We are sad that we are closing our doors at the end of this month. There are always possibilities that we can come back in one form or another, but at this point in time, January 31, 2016 is the last day that Live365’s streaming servers and website will be maintained and supported,” the company said in a statement. Live365 recently lost some important investors and saw the expiration of the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009, which caused costs for its services to webcast around 5,000 internet radio stations to skyrocket. Some online radio activists hope to renegotiate a lower royalty rate for internet stations, but there's no doubt it is more difficult to launch an independent internet radio station now.

European courts recent rulings might outlaw mass surveillance. In Roman Zakharov v. Russia the court said a surveillance authorization “must clearly identify a specific person … or a single set of premises.” And, then, from Hungary, a court gets more specific. Sharon St. Vincent at CDT writes, "In [the court case] Szabo and Vissy [the court] considered whether the challenged Hungarian laws provide, 'adequate and effective guarantees against abuse.' The answer was no: the phrase 'strictly necessary in a democratic society,' the Court explained for the first time, means not only that a surveillance measure must be strictly necessary for 'safeguarding the democratic institutions' at a general level, but must also be 'strictly necessary … for the obtaining of vital intelligence in an individual operation.' Crucially, the Court added that the Hungarian authorities must therefore interpret a law allowing surveillance authorizations to apply to 'a range of persons'—which, as the Court observed, could potentially include everyone in Hungary—very narrowly. According to the Court, the body authorizing the surveillance must 'verify whether sufficient reasons for intercepting a specific individual’s communications exist in each case.' Analysts are waiting to see if courts cite these precedents to strike down mass surveillance programs in Europe.

The three Democratic candidates for president were asked about encryption, and their views on the balance between privacy and security, at the latest debate, Jan. 17. Click here to hear the candidates on encryption.