Datscha Radio travels to Taiwan!It’s now official: As one of the selected artists for the Treasure Hill Artist Residency 2019 in Taipei I am invited to perform research and radio art on site. On my schedule are interviews and field recordings as well as a live radio stream at set times.And of course, the blog will be extended to include contributions about the Taiwanese plant (and garden) world.I’m pleased :)
Place: Treasure Hill Artist Village, Taipei
Time: 11th January – 11th March 2019
The only two times I photographed a desert prickly poppy (Argemone polyanthemos) was in 2003 and in 2018, and both happened on the occasion of a visit to the Chinati Foundation.
In a garden next to the studios (it was absolutely forbidden to take pics of the interiors and the library) a row of sunflowers lined a Judd-fashioned adobe wall. As the whole place is imprinted with this man’s concept of perfect proportion, it appeared to me that not even the sunflowers could withstand his sense of zen-like order. Their silhouettes stood out in immaculate wilting… and reminded me somehow of a procession of Don Quixotes.
The open fields that frame the buildings and outdoor concrete sculptures stretch over an 340 acre areal bought by Judd during his first visits to Marfa in the 70s. Inside and outside melt into each other on viewing his aluminum sculptures through the giant glass panes.
The ground is gravel and red earth, interspersed with pebbles and small rocks… and desert flowers.
Different kinds of prairie grasses grew there, e. g. so-called weeds like the Silverleaf Nightshade, that has much bigger blossoms than the European kind (Solanum nigrum). Its flowers appear in different hues of blue, from lilac and mauve to an almost clear blue).
The Prickly Poppy stays one of my favorites…
Also to be found are some handsome thistles, silvery dead aloe(heads), lots of bronze-coloured dried up, unknown (to me) annuals, and in the background exhausted looking shrubs and desert willows meddling with the low hanging clouds.
And here are still some other (not yet specified) flowers that grew among the sculptures.
The Sotol plant (Dasylirionliophyllum) abounds on the Northern slopes of the Big Bend National Park. Its slender flower stems reach into the air, gently waving in the occasional breezes coming down from the mountains. The sotol belongs to the family of the agavea yet its outer appearance resembles more a yucca. The Indians used to roast the heart of the plant in fire pits dug into the earth, coals beneath and silt on top to cover them.
Yet, as we approach the Big Bend’s “Sotol View“ it becomes apparent that quite recently a bush fire has raged in the region. The ground is almost bare, splashed with grey patches of ashes and in between, the stumps of the sotel plants sit like churned pineapples, surrounded by the black sticks and twigs what was formerly mesquite and coal back stubbles of gras.
A closer look reveals that most of the Sotel plants are not dead at all! Slowly (but not really slow, as desert plants are fast-reacting beings), one days after another, new green pushes the scorched leaves forward. I’d say that the fire happened maybe 2-3 weeks ago, no more. Already new seedlings have appeared in little clusters, some of the stubbles show new leaves of grass. The opuntias however, look desolate. Their „ears“ have turned to a sickly, almost transparent yellow, and where the whole plant has been seized, there is nothing left to rescue.
Some plants are only burnt half, clearly the fire had been extinguished fairly quickly. The Big Bend’s fire brigade goes by the name of „Los Diablos“, a Mexican troop notoriously known by its efficiency, courage and speed. As they say, they „fight the fire like the devil“, hence the name. Still, there is a bitter taste to the story of this brigade. Being Mexicans and having their home mostly close to the border, the men are – despite the fact that the group is even recruited for emergencies all over the South West far into Presidio county – not even allowed a permanent working permit.
From the Red Roses of Texas to freely growing “Night Shades” in avocado shaped BBQ roasts found on the corners of derelict houses: Stay prepared for selected postings (and excuse the delays: it’s either too much sun or no W-Lan or too much sun again.
We have just sent them to Paris: digital parcels of earth tones, bird calls, water trumpets and music for snails: on September 2, Datscha Radio will be part of the program of the JRM – the Jardin de Recherches Musicales, an annual micro-FM festival in Paris, organized by Dinah Bird and Jean-Philippe Renoult. An afternoon of sun, sound experiments, field recordings and performances on the disused small train line that runs through all of Paris …
And in Berlin?
Our archives are still broadcast … for another 11 days.Time for a stroll down to Schlegelstraße 6 and a good opportunity hang out and listen.Our loop lasts 9 hours and 36 minutes, which is the average number of night hours between the opening date of the show to the end of RAUMOHNERAUM #3 .
The gallery is open: Do – So, 2 – 7 pm
Still available: Last jars of our Mole Jam and copies of the 2017 Datscha Radio catalogue!
Absolutely amazing and incredibly fast: in just 6 days, the hornets, having conquered the pine tree’s birdhouse straight after the sweet cherry season, have built a fantastic annex: Welcome to the hornet’s Datscha!
I wonder how this will go on … with the fair weather season extending into at least two more months.Hornets are a nocturnal species, yet in the mornings and in the early afternoon, the sounds of their nesting activities are loudest: a permanent rasping accompanied by the buzz of wings. Nice idea, to install a microphone at a close range – well, it won’t be me who’s doing that!
Online since today on the blog of the Goethe-Institut Munich: “Art through the ether”, a short narration of radio art history, written by Knut Aufermann. Datscha Radio is happy to be featured there in picture and sound (by and with Frieder Butzmann), in addition to a number of parallel projects and/or institutions promoting radio art. Auferman’s text gives the reader a good overview of the beginnings, alternative modes and various manifestations of this art practice, and it is a pleasure to read it!
Therefore here, not many words, but the link to the English version: https://www.goethe.de/en/kul/med/21324932.html
About:
Knut Aufermann, born 1972, lives in Ürzig and works internationally as a radio artist, musician and organizer. Since 2005, he has worked with Sarah Washington under the project name Mobile Radio at events such as the 30th São Paulo Biennial and documenta 14.
The exhibition RAUMOHNERAUM #3 opened yesterday! With the numerous guests came the long-awaited rain, so everyone found themselves between our molehills when Susann Kramer from the Kunstverein Neukölln e.V. introduced the artists from the exhibition. For the third time now, Berlins ‘Network of Free Project Spaces and Initiatives’ invited art projects that do not have their own space. Under this year’s motto “In The Neighborhood” – apart from Datscha Radio – the collective Nomadic Art, the Camping Academy and the duo Ira Hadžić & Kevin Ryan were selected.
The evening was long and pleasurable. Right next to the entrance of the Galerie Kunstpunkt, Datscha Radio broadcast earthy pearls from the archive within a small radius, including a first issue of Datscha Radio Madrid. Our camping furniture was immediately taken over and ears were held close to the radios – amidst the opening’s acoustic clutter, our radio waves could only take on a ‘subterranean’ effect. A pity that our “Unearthing the Archive” team could only be present to a lesser extent, since the other half, Kate Donovan and Niki Matita, currently dwell at artist residencies beyond as wellas on this side of the ocean.
Datscha Radio’s installation “Unearthing the Archive” can be seen until the 31st of August, every Thursday to Sunday, 2pm to 7pm. Our archive loop lasts exactly 9 hours and 36 minutes. This is the average number of hours between the 28th of July and the 31st of August. The selected tracks are played in random mode: what comes next remains unpredictable! Stop by and turn your ears to the molehills in the Kunstpunkt!
Datscha Radio’s installation “Unearthing the Archive” can be seen until the 31st of August, every Thursday to Sunday, 2pm to 7pm. Our archive loop lasts exactly 9 hours and 36 minutes, the average number of night hours between the 28th of July and the 31st of August. The selected tracks are played in random mode: what comes next remains unpredictable! Stop by and tune your ears into the molehills at Kunstpunkt!
Here is a slideshow of images from yesterday evening with a big thank you to the team from the network for the great cooperation!
