Waste Culture #1 – Rückblick & Hören

The radio station at Bison. With guests Shuji Nishimura, Bubu Kamitakahara and Naoe

Datscha Radio Kobe

(Übersetzung folgt) On the 22nd of November, the grounds of Bison were brimming from early morning on with the sounds of carpentry and welding, the setting up of food stalls and improvised performance stages, the hanging of second-hand clothing on racks, and the installation of a sauna tent, a silk-screen printing station, and a DJ desk. Last but not least, the radio station of Datscha Radio Kobe was set up on the first floor of the main building, still in the process of reconstruction.
The floors leading to the space were only partly covered with boards, leaving room to either fall through in the event of tripping or, otherwise, to present contemporary photography dangling from threads into the space beneath.

Whoever switched into the broadcast (listenable on the website) could already eavesdrop on the Open Bison festival happening outside from 1 pm on. A shotgun microphone picked up the sounds and sent them into the (digital) ether. Most audio was provided by the improvised barber shop of Issa and Miko, who took up their action on the protruding roof right next to the window.

Prior to the radio show, walks and talks all across the city of Kobe were recorded: An interview with Yuhei-san, the young owner of a retro jeans recycling store, and with Mr. Koizumi, founder of the organic food store Farmstand, as well as with Ikura-san, owner of the Bossa bar (about possible ghosts living in antique objects).

Connecting a standard European mixer to Japanese voltage must fail. If it hadn’t been for Tayuka-san, the broadcast wouldn’t have happened, as he lent me his tiny but efficient machine. I personally managed to get a haircut from Ossa just in time before the show.

The programme began with a jingle spoken by the dancer and artist Tomoka Maekawa, who also contributed the sounds that composed it. Datscha Radio’s guests appeared by and by in loose order, bringing – as requested – items they wanted to discard and talk about.

Guests

According to Shuji Nishimura, whose motto is “The real work begins when the roof falls in,” the group dedicates its days to renovating abandoned houses in Kobe and other cities in Japan. The group does not purchase and use industrial products; rather, it makes the most of discarded materials and natural resources. In our talk, Shuji explains how he came to renovate abandoned houses: Like with so many others, rising rents and gentrification caused him to lose his initial home. And yes, he firmly believes that the aura of past residents travels with their objects connected to the new places. This needs to be respected, Shuji says.

Bubu Kamitakahara is a dollmaker artist, creating dolls in a multitude of styles. In response to Datscha Radio’s call to bring in unused items for disposal, she presented a makeup brush. Once in her aunt’s possession, who owned a beauty parlour, it sat on Bubu’s nightstand for several years. “Does it make you think of your auntie?” “No, not really. Besides, she is still alive. So I don’t really need this.” The brush was exchanged for a small wooden Christmas cradle to be painted from the radio’s gift box.

Shoko Yamamura kindly offered her services as a translator for the broadcast. Really, Datscha Radio is much obliged as she did a great job. Yet, she also works as an artist. She brought along three boxes that displayed her artwork at different stages of transformation – from the discarded plastic wrappings of noodle packages to refined arrangements of shiny droplets on paper framed. She says it is her modest but sincere contribution to recycling the vast amount of plastic waste we produce.

The interview with Yuhei-san about his Custom Denim retro clothing studio was a pre-production. I came across his store on my way to meet Koizumi-san, co-founder of the organic food store Farmstand. Mr. Koizumi also appeared in person to say hello.

Naoe-san, a friend of Bubu, presented a small label of paper. As so often, stories hide in the folds of the most inconspicuous things. As it turned out, Naoe-san, being fond of knitting, collects the labels of the different balls of wool she purchases and puts them in a container to keep. For most people who would come across this box by accident, this systematic order would seem quite a mystery… The label was exchanged for a kitchen towel.

Music and more

Datscha Radio received a large number of excellent pieces on the theme of waste. Sadly, due to time constraints, only a few could be played during the show. To make up for this, listeners could delve into the full range of compositions right after the live broadcast. The resulting Nightloop combined field recordings and excerpts from informal interviews in Kobe and Osaka with the artists’ tracks, aiming to create a long-lasting, thought-provoking ‘Waste in Time’ mix.

A list of the composers’ works and their bios can be found here (from 8 December).

Datscha Radio expresses its thanks to all its guests and new friends. Special thanks to

• Yoko Miyake – for taking care of everything and helping to make the radio happen
• Tomoka-san – for helping with proofreading and production of the jingle
• Shoko-san for her super pro translations on the fly
• Bubu-san – for welcoming me in Kobe and taking me out to interesting bars
• Tayuka-san for lending his mixer!
• Yuki of C.A.P. Kobe for – making introductions to Bison and Haioku group
• Daniel Miller – for Bossa bar talk translation
• Marold Langer-Phillipsen for remote supervision and server space

This post is also available in: Englisch