Simple, clear directive that would both break the flow and show how radio is done
8
Very funny, and perhaps hazardous if street names overlap
11
Touches on the broadcaster’s eagerness to pick up phone calls when they don’t know if anyone’s listening
14
The idea of passing over control resonates, brings to mind a musical experiment where audience members would gradually replace members of a performing band
15
An interesting exercise and a reminder of what radio is made of
16
Nice way to stretch the definition: what is radio and what isn’t radio?
17
The more successful you are, the more of a failure you’d become in terms of traditional programming
18
Inverting what is content and what is format or information infrastructure
19
Mixes the broadcasting point with the receiving point
Doesn’t have to be bicycles; perhaps a flock of pigeons
20
Relates to a Rare Frequency (WZBC) broadcast of sound from a subway rail
Recalls “piano burning/drowning” performances by Annea Lockwood and others
21
Subverts a common issue in community radio: the consantly felt need to cater to an imagined listener
22
Appreciating the Bertolt Brecht reference
What does Radio Naked do?
Reveals and questions our assumptions about the radio medium
Contributes to the Radio Rethink context, provides momentum for radio art
Taken literally/actionably, the prompts suggest ways to destabilize something that can appear as an “unscalable wall” – as a rigid institution in terms of format/technology/access
Works through metaphor within conceptual art traditions
Provides “poetic ruptures or disruptions of order” – even if just momentary
Gestures back to “La Radia” (1933) in challenging commercialization of radio and commodification of the listener; stands to refresh the charter for experimentation in some community radio sectors
Questions that Radio Naked provokes
How much does the radio listener matter? (Do these prompts envision radio as for the broadcaster rather than for the listener – and is that how more radio should be, given that we can only guess at or make assumptions about the listener?)
Following from that question, can anyone say honestly they are broadcasting solely for themselves? Why the need for a platform/medium in that case?
The interpetive gap – between wanting to communicate and knowing the ideal listener doesn’t really exist – as “a fruitful place to play and a substrate to create work in”
An artistic mantra: “the listener is always the composer” – or are they a “co-composer”? And in a community radio context, the listener as “program-maker”
What were the stylistic decisions in the creation of the audio versions? For instance, why more synthetic sounds than indexical/acoustic sounds (e.g. bicycles in #19)? Why (in most cases) is the text of the prompt itself spoken, rather than actuated to produce other sounds?
Preparing
Please take a listen through the works in our listening syllabus in advance of the second session. The audio player at the top of that page will automatically loop through the recorded Radio Naked prompts and some other syllabus excerpts, which might be a good way to background-listen while you wash dishes. I recommend also reading through the text version of Radio Naked.
If you missed the first session or would like a refresher, also please take a look at the recap.
In breakout groups, drafting deprogramming prompts for non-radio media (see below)
Reconvening to share prompts and build a definition for deprogramming
Planning small group meetings in advance of next session
Deprogramming non-radio media exercise (breakout rooms)
Your task with your group is to draft at least one “deprogramming prompt,” in the style of Radio Naked, for the medium assigned to the breakout room you choose. (Choices included cable TV, Facebook, YouTube or TikTok, email, and print journalism.)
Here are some questions that may be useful to pose:
What makes someone a “programmer” for this medium?
What are some routines that are always followed in this medium?
What’s a routine that would be interesting to question or disrupt? How would the programmer do that? What would it look/sound/feel like?
For next session
In advance of our third session, please draft three short deprogramming prompts. Please send these by email before noon on Monday, Feb. 21 so that we can all view each other’s work in the session.
Your prompts can address radio or any medium / combination of media you choose. Do not worry if you feel you don’t “get” the format yet: now is the time to experiment and cast a wide net as to how we want to shape this project. We’ll all have the chance to refine our drafts based on collective feedback.