8 degrees, rain, wind gusts at 37 km/h: A perfect day to make radio outside next to a river and a pine tree! The air… was… wet!
Scheduled for today at 12 was the “Air Nets” performance by the artist Inari Virmakoski at the Jakkukylä suspension bridge some 5 km away. We decided to split up: Ms Schaffner would stay at the station, watching the weather and tending guests and sound art works; Ms Friedrich would go, see the performance and report via telephone into the radio mic.
Radio guest of the day was Kai, who punctually appeared at 11:30. Offering him a glass of cold water seemed somehow superfluous, and we started our talk with a pronunciation exercise of his surname: LATVALEHTO. (I remember him telling me a much much longer version of this one which I looked up from the internet.) Kai Latvalehto knows the region well, having moved over from Sweden to the region of Ii at the age of 13.
We talked about the weather, climate change (“Black Christmas” even in the North in 7 out of 10 years) and his work as a project manager of the Kripa-project/Northern AiR.
The Kripa project aims to create permanent supporting structures for the field and to increase the international competence for the local cultural actors in Ostrobotnia. It is a part of the Rural Development Programme for Mainland Finland, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Currently there exist six residency location, namely in Ii, Kuusamo, Hailuoto, Raahe, Oulu and Kärsämäki.
Shortly after he left, the phone rang. There was Tina reporting about the preparations of Inari’s performance: constant drizzle of rain, people with umbrellas is various colors, the curators shepherding the artloving crowd of ca. 30 people, a bridge spanning the river, a camera team on location… and amidth it, dressed in a shining yellow rain coat, the most wonderful looking artist, holding a mass of white material in her arms.
From the bridge itself “Air Nets” were dangling down and dancing in the rain gusts… just like giant “Jelly fish”, Tina reported.
The connection broke and kept on breaking during the telephone transmission. In between, the following works from the open call were presented:
Joan Schumann: Shimmer & Loop
The Square Root of Negative Two: Vapor
Sebastian Pafundo: Gûlgaltâ = Calvariae = Calvario.
Richard Zeiss: It’s a beautiful rain And the first episode of
TzuHuan_Lin_How’s the Weather ep1-4: Bad Weather in Puerto Rico
By the time Ms Friedrich reappeared from the expedition, I was thoroughly frozen over. And she too. The station was packed into the box, the ‘air of Ii’ microphones activated and off we went in search for some hot hot hot cups of tea at the Kulturikauppila.
Due to cable rearrangements, the ‘air stream’ set-up in the birdhouse (masterly put together by Ii Art technical assistant Timo) now runs only on batteries. Depending on temperatures and weather these tend to die at some point during the night.
A great occasion to create a “Night Loop” consisting of a (re)broadcast of the ‘Air on Air’ sound art contributions and also a fit way to present longer works.
The NightLoops will start from approximately 1 pm (=death of batteries) and will play until 11 am.
We also have the pleasure to say that from the 17th on, our program will be by [Open Radio]: https://openradio.in
Nightloop I: 16th
Elisabeth Shores: On The Inhale 0:33
Stuart Mellor: Turbine 4:44
Kazuya Ishigami: Gods rhyzm of Kehi-Jingu Shrine and Wakesa bay 5:50
Martin Virgili: Campana – Acantilado (10 Chapters) 1:20:00
Joan Schumann: Shimmer & Loop 12:46
The Square Root of Negative Two: Vapor 15:24
Sebastian Pafundo: Gûlgaltâ = Calvariae = Calvario 8:00
Richard Zeiss: It’s a beautiful rain 7:36
Tzu Huan Lin & Campbell Watson: How’s the Weather ep1-4: Bad Weather in Puerto Rico 25:40 Human Social Interaction 25:40 Evolution 14:22 Utopia 25:40
Roberto D’Ugo: FICA COMOVIDO | SI COMMOUVE | BE MOVED BY
George Ridgway: pedagogy of the knot
Sunday: Last Show
Paint the Sky: Conceptual Artists
Hagai Itzenberg: Involuntarily
Sebastian Pafundo: Gûlgaltâ = Calvariae = Calvario
Dirk Huelstrunk: Poem for Air
+ Peter Courtemanche: Mechanical Velocities
NIGHTLOOP 4 only until 0:00
The above plus:
Lauren Wong: (Don’t) take my breath away
Wilfried Hanrath: Something in the Air (and in-between)
NKvdK (Nieuwe Klanken van de Keizer – The Emperor’s New Sounds): Planktone
Datscha Radio Ii would like to thank ALL participating artists!!!!!
Stay tuned: There’s more to the night!
—> Streaming right after midnight, the radio artist Marold Langer-Philippsen will start on “Hörmaschine”. Both on datscharadio.de and [open radio]
Read More
The weather forecast had shown a rain warning, yet the day started with bright sunshine and stayed like this during our very first broadcast at 11 am at the Lähti park in Ii.
Our scheduled guests for this transmission were the curators of the art Ii Biennal, but! Propped up in the birdhouse our air on air mics picked up a different sound (different from the rustling wind in the pine trees, birches and the grass and the river): a song!
Along the pathways of the park a girl in a wheelchair and a social worker approached us speedily. As it turned out, Miia loves to sing. And she loves radio music, concerts and more singing.
The artist’s park of Ii is situated close the towns municipal center. There is the hospital, pharmacy, job center, retirement home and a support center for people with special abilities.
Later that morning we were joined by another radio-hunry group (we still had not started on our show), Paula, Jonas, Susanna, Timo, Sanna and Sirpa. Sirpa too proved to be a lovely singer. We chatted on about singing and our forthcoming program and the Art Biennal.
Of course, the radio day had then just started. You will read more about it in due time. This is it for now.
Datscha Radio Schedule Up-Date Finnish Time (GMT+3)
Hello, our time here has been very exiting so far: Pine tree juice dripping on our birdhouse cables, a visit to the local pub, tech mysteries, inspiring encounters with our fellow artists… most of which you will meet in the course of our shows.
The original plan of broadcasts has been changed to the following times:
Wed. 15th of June 2-3 pm Opening OC Artists today: Elizabeth Shores, Stuart Mellor, Martin Virgili, Kazuya Ishigami, (after the show:) Jussi Alaraasakka
Thu. 16th of June 11 am – 1 pm Expedition performance by the artist INARI. Reported live from the event via Tina on the telephone. The Square Root of Negative Two: Vapour Later on with possible changes: Joan Schumann: Shimmer Loop Sebastian Pafundo: Gûlgaltâ = Calvariae = Calvario (will be played again during our broadcasts Now playing: 12:50 – the return of Tina: TzuHuan_Lin_How’s the Weather ep1-4
Fri. 17th of June 11 am- 1 pm
Sat. 18th of June 11 am- 1 pm + Radio Picnic 2 pm – 3:30 pm
Sun. 19th of June 11 am- 1 pm
Updates will follow within the next 12 hours, stay tuned :)
Datscha Radio Ii is realised with the kind support of the Goethe Institut Munich
Blue and translucent as the air in Ii the violets bloom in the meadows: Yes, it is still late spring here. And just as translucent and glittering are the 28+ compositions Datscha Radio received from all corners of the world as contributions to our “Air ‘in Air’ program, broadcast between the 15th and the 19th of June.
Pieces shorter than one can hold one’s breath and pieces with enough oxygene to survive a trip into space. There are ventilators, flutes, noses in marriage with microphones, extensive compositions, ‘ear plays’, airy choirs and every now and then a musical evaporation of voices into the hues and blues.
Datscha Radio is very much looking forward to present the following international artists (here in alphabetical order):
We are delighted to welcome you to “Air ‘on Air’! Thank you for sending us your works!
Castelló_Domínguez & Rangel_Moreno
Cenk Bekdemir
Charlotte Law
Chelidon Frame
Dirk Hülstrunk
Elisabeth Shores
Eva Sjuve
Gabriele de Seta
Hagai Itzenberg
Hans Castrup
Ian Joyce
Isto Rahkila
Jaakko Autio
Joana Jardim & Filipe Miranda
Jussi_Alaraasakka
KAZUYA_Ishigami
La Claud
Lauren Wong
Lucas Norer
Martin Virgili
Peter Courtemanche
Roberto_D’Ugo
Sebastian Pafundo
Sol Rezza, Franco Falistoko
Stephen Shiell
Steve Transcoder
Stuart_Mellor
The Square Root of Negative Two
Tiger Stangl
Tzu Huan Lin & Campbell Watson
Voice Changer
Wilfried Hanrath
Due to the extraordinarily varying time spans of the different works we are still in the process of deciding how to implement them into the running schedule. State of things currently:
Pieces up to ca. 15-20 minutes will be presented in our shows. Longer works will be grouped into ‘Special Hours’ and broadcast either before and after those, with due credits given after respectively before.
We will keep you updated with more informations as soon as possible, with the midnight sun aiding us staying in awake with its untiring ray on sun (or else the ever hungry mosquitos)!
Open Call: Air on Air Datscha Radio will broadcast from the 8th Art Biennale in Ii, Finland. From June 15-19, 2022.
About
Art Ii Biennial addresses current themes, participates in the public discussion through the methods of art and boldly combines the rich cultural heritage of Ii with contemporary art. The main focus of the event is ecological, economical, social and cultural sustainability.
This year’s theme is In the Air. How can the interconnected immateriality of air be communicated using the methods of art.
Text: https://artii.fi/
Broadcasting about and listening to ‘just air’ seems to be an unusual concept. This is mainly because we take air for granted. Actually, it is not. The next planet with a probability of having an atmosphere breathable for our species lies 159 lightyears in a distance.
Datscha Radio’s 2022 event “Air on Air” will present a 24/5 hour radio stream of the air in Ii. For three hours each day we will invite artists and locals alike into our studio to talk about air and present selected works from the open call. For the remaining hours a microphone will transmit the atmospheres of Ii. “Air on Air” will happen from the 16th to the 19th of June 2022, we will be broadcasting directly from the park of the Biennal, close to the banks of the river Iijoki. The broadcasts can be heard online on datscharadio.de and via micro FM on the grounds of the Biennale.
The Call
Most people consider air sound as boring, since it contains not much/redundant/ uninteresting information. The contrary might be true. Air does not only form the background of anything we perceive by our sense of hearing: It constitutes the very precondition of why we hear at all. There is no transmission of sound in empty space.
What travels empty space and almost any space though, is radio. In the shape of electromagnetic waves, radio frequencies have been with the cosmos from its very beginning… and they travel on forever, no matter whether they are emitted by cosmic explosions, radioactive matter, microwave ovens, mobile phones, or, in that instance, by Datscha Radio.
Let us broadcast your ‘airborne’ compositions and sonic musings together under the midsummer skies of Northern Finland. Datscha Radio is looking forward to your radiophonic input.
Do not (!) send any links to downloads. Do not send your work as mail attachment. Thank you!
Please provide a pdf with two or three lines (400 spaces max) each about the piece and its relevance for the theme. Two or three lines (400 spaces max) about yourself, including a website if desired.
Add a line as to whether you agree with having your broadcast work archived with Datscha Radio’s online documentation.
Please put “Air on Air” as a subject line.
Deadline: May 28, 2022
What Datscha Radio can offer
Datscha Radio works on a non-commercial basis, therefore we cannot reimburse you for your valuable time and work. Instead, what we have to offer is this:
your work will be presented within the frame of the Art Biennal Ii 15-19 June, locally on FM,and worldwide on stream
a radio art platform for discovery, exchange and networking
sustainability: the documentation of “Air on Air” will be archived and made accessible on mixcloud (your agreement provided)
DIRECT LINK to player (if clicking the button on the right should not work):
For the mp3-stream (192kbit/s):
https://radiolada.out.airtime.pro/radiolada_a
Durational morning broadcasts:
A cold start: Ice Bathing in Germany by Ursula Rogg The Avant Garden goes on Ice. A Rebel Radio Selection.
Open Call Contributions andMiscellanies
Shorter pieces, lullabies, poems and field recordings
Guests in the Studio between 12 and 4 pm (Finnish Time):
Anita Hannunen – Residence Coordinator
Mika Tepponen – Head of the Merkanto Opisto, the Mänttä Music School
Tomi Voronin – Poet
Kirsi-Klaudia Kangas – Poetess and yoik singer
Specials:
Sleigh rides with and without horses
A Twilight Talk – with Merja Kääniäinen and Hannu, Keijo and Leevi Tuominen
Blinis & Moose: Food preparations and lunch with Tiina Nyrhinen, Anita Hannunen, Pauli Sivonen
Organ pieces played by Kaja Jantsikene in the Mäntta church
An introduction to the tradition of yoik singing by Kirsi-Klaudia Kangas
Kirsi Poutanen. A talk about Weeping Songs and Fado. With an introduction and a weeping song from quite another part of the globe, recorded by Mahlet Hates I as well as a lament about a very contemporary disaster: a corona weeping song, courtesy Emmi Kuittinen
The Upside Down Awake Fake World. A talk with Tixa Juka
Afternoon Ghosts From noisy to eery to Pareidolic phenomena whispers and revisiting dreams: More selections from the open call contributions.
Preparing for Mars
Last night studies and a phone talk
From 7 pm: Aelita II with Marold Langer-Philippsen
„One two three: Kaaaamo-ss Radiooo!“ Kaamos Radio started into its 14-hour session with a joint shout by all studio guests present as there were:
Anita Hannunen – Residence coordinator of the Serlachius museums
Matti Kivilahti – Poet, priest of the local community, and teacher of a writing class
Tomi Vorinen – Poet and founder of the Mäntää Poets Association (with Matti)
Kari Soino – Visual artist from Helsinki and resident artist
Tyyra Juka – mushroom expert and textile artist, Ruovesi
Tixa Juka – vocal improvisor and feeling dealer, Ruovesi
Studio View
By and by all had gathered in the studio which was set up on the first floor of the Serlachius Residency artist premises, the door to the balcony was opened to ensure a fresh drift of air through the room; there was a sofa, several chairs, and an atmosphere of general excitement and anticipation. Tixa set up the gear for his up-coming performance, involving a table record player and a reindeer horn fixed in a clamp to the table. His wife Tyyra – having brought in a medium sized and promising looking suitcase – settled into the office chair with her knitting work and the two poets comfortably lounged on the sofa.
Anita uploading some social news
The broadcast began with a Karelian lament song, performed by the Helsinki artist Kirsi Poutanen. (The talk with her will form part of the program on the 20th of February.) Anita Hannunen started out to give a description of the studio from memory with her eyes closed, congenially translated by Kari. Anita had facilitated many of Kaamos Radio’s recordings in the town and vicinity of Mänttä, and together with her horse Lissu we had taken a sleigh ride.
Kari Soinio talking about his daily snow walk
Kari Soinio is a photographer but currently he is working on a video about memory and personal resilience. Every day he walks the 3 km that separate the resident’s home at the Gösta Serlachius Museum to the studio close to the Gustav Serlachius Museum. It’s a long winding path along the shores of the lake, and one keeps walking in the footsteps of so and so many predecessors in a kind 40 cm deep furrow in the snow. The sound sounds and resounds differently with changes in temperature and humidity. And in a way, so do the musings of the walker.
Poets must wear black…
Matti Kivilahti had written to me some weeks earlier and had sent three poems about ‘kaamos’… and that’s how our acquaintanceship started. Next to being a poet, Matti is also the priest (one out of four) of the Mänttä-Vilppula community and he is teaching a writing class. He came and brought his friend and colleague Tomi Vuorinen. Both performed their own poems, the translations were spoken by Tixa. Tomi also sang a poem by the poet Eino Leino, his deep voice ringing out beautifully through the room.
This ‘Poet’s Hour’ was spiced up with the playing of several compositions by some of the Open Call artists. Kaamos Radio has received more than 35 pieces, including also a set of poems by the local poetess Jaana Korhonen. Not all of these could be played, they will be features more extensively in the afternoon of the 20th. Tomi is also the founder of the Mänttä Poet’s Association and he has been writing poems for more than 35 years. “You can say very deep things with very few words. I am a lazy man!” he says with a wink. Both also explained the concept behind ‘Poem Karaoke’: “It is NOT a contest!”, they jointly exclaimed. There is also a beer name “Kuu” which means “moon” and has a poem on its label, which was consequently read.
Steinpilzkekse! Ich hab das Rezept!
Tyyra Juka is an expert on multileveled planes of knowledge: She is a member of the Finnish Mycological Society and mushroom number 7263 (sienineuvoja). She is a resource producer by profession and also a member of the board of local corvesation of nature-society (Suomen luonnonsuojeluyhdistys, Virtain-Ruovesden luonnonsuojeluhdistys ry.)
The suitcase she has brought with her is really a “Pieni Sienet Kauppa”, a little mushroom shop. For us in the studio and for our listeners she takes out one piece after the other. For example different kinds of dried mushrooms of which she explains their uses: Mushrooms for making ink, mushroom dyes (three colours alone from one specimen), “tähti” (Boletus) biscuits, mushroom dyed organic wool – her knitwork turned out to be a sock in the making with a mushroom pattern –… On my questioning Tyyra also explained that there are indeed “talvi sienet”, mushrooms growing during winter, even eatable ones that pop up as soon as a patch of snow has melted into the soil. In the course of our talk we tasted from her salads and muffins, and I must say, the taste of a sweet and salty, vegan (!) boletus biscuit is indescribably marvelous!
After so much tasty food it was time for an evening coffee which all enjoyed very much, some of us rather staying with their winter beers, why not!
The Feeling Dealer’s set up
Feeling dealer (“but only for the happy feelings”) Tixa went to work with a small saw, sawing the reindeer bone attached to his performance table. Before that, he held a little introductions as to why for reindeers there is no such thing as darkness as we perceive it: Their eyes have a special retina, which makes them “hundred eyed”, and this ability helps them to stay orientated and fed during the arctic winters. He played a piece titled “pohlejoka punka”, derived from a performance earlier in 2020, and he used his voice and several instruments to accompany it live. A poem-tale written by Tyyra’s mother about three sisters going into the forest still added an additional layer to the concert, read by Tixa and Tyyra (then in English) in turns.
There is also a fish bone used as instrument
The sad moment came when all the guests had to say Goodbye, which happened around 11 pm Helsinki time. Still, you will meet some of them again on your radio this Saturday. Kaamos Radio continued its program with the presentation of further contributions from the open call, an arctic opera among them as well as recordings in the field of sonic anthropology.
Around 1 am the moment came when the Kaamos stream was handed over to Bratislava: “Aelita” being the title of a brand new, durational night performance of the artist Marold Langer-Philippsen. In a little phone conversation, he told us about his planned journey to Mars, herby following the narrative outline of Aelita, or The Decline of Mars, a 1923 science fiction novel by Russian author Aleksey Tolstoy. I sent him on his way with a lullaby sung by Chrisse Candolin, about a blue car taking the children to dreamland.
Morning found me at 7 am with sleepy eyes at the microphone. An orchestra of refrigerators was still broadcasting as part of the night program, leaving Mr Langer-Philippsen in the midst of his Marsian journey. Despite some technical problems, the morning was celebrated by another – and final – durational radio art piece. Night Call by Kate Donovan listened from a Berlin garden to “the one who listens”, in that case, eavesdropping on the female nightingale.
Kaamos Radio will continue its excursions into the local arts and artist scene of Mänttä on Saturday, 20th of February, from 10 am (9 am CET) to 1am (midnight CET) on the 21st – including many stunning and intricate compositions dedicated to the many-layered fabrics of winter. The second part of “Aelita” will start at 7 pm.
Please stay tuned and look out for the up-dated (!) program schedule on Friday evening.
Next to diverse field recordings from Mänttä and other places in Finland, there were played:
Karelian Lament Song – an improvisation by Kirsi Poutanen
The Happy Squirrel, sung by by Merja Kääriäinen
Stories in Colours: D15/Winter 1998
Vernon and Burns – A wrong turn towards eternity
Tom Miller – A Meditation on Darkness
Tom Miller – In Deep Taiga by L.M. Likhachev
Katuvalot I – Jaana Korhonen (poem)
Michael Begg – Last Dance under the Moon
Jane Foley/warlock Fulltime – Voice from the edge of a frozen Lake
Elmo Panainen – Heptagonal Winter
Elmo Panainen – Snow
Joost van Duppen – Sisa Ulko
Constantine Katsiris – Dorothy
Niina Nokkonen: Ilta Kahvi
Elmo Panainen – Heptagonal WInter
La Claud – Valo Nukatah, an Arctic Opera
Sebastian Pafundo – Borealiinen
Konrad Behr – Bauhaus.fm Orchestra/Radio Helsinki: Refrigerator Concert
