Making Waves

This month on Making Waves includes sound art created in public outdoor spaces and focus on two projects that open up access to the music making process. In the first half host Darren Copeland talks to Jesse Stewart and Matt Edwards of Mixed Metaphors about their approach to interactive art in public settings. They will share their experiences making their latest works Orbits and The Gong Show. In the second half of Making Waves pieces in the NORDIC SoUNDPORTRAITS series of 2012 by Jorgen Teller are presented. These pieces were made in a public setting by Teller through one-on-one interactions with the audience member. Much like a sketch artist may create an impromptu portrait of a person, these pieces do the same using sound and music.

On last month’s show we featured flute improvisations recorded by Ellen Waterman outdoors in a rural waterfront location. The improvisations were guided by her physical response to the natural surroundings and were an interpretation of her instructional score Bodily Listening in Place. In today’s show Ellen Waterman will explain that score and the background and research behind it. The score draws on her research and thinking on Improvisation, Deep Listening, Signed Music and music making across all abilities.

Two weeks ago Wave Farm's WGXC and New Adventures in Sound Art both participated as broadcast partners for Reveil, a 24-hour broadcast of dawn chorus open microphone livestreams that follows the emergence of daylight from time zone to time zone across the entire planet. Reveil coincides with NAISA programming that focuses on the local soundscape in South River Ontario. On today’s show we are going to feature a selection of spring soundscapes from Warbler’s Roost in South River plus we will feature music made outdoors by Ellen Waterman that responds to that soundscape. Ellen Waterman's performances are interpretations of her instructional score "Bodily Listening in Place." NAISA welcomes more interpretations of that score by listeners of all sensory abilities, which will be presented on World Listening Day in July. To find out more go to https://youtu.be/b618vzqIsVI

On today’s show we have a conversation with Michelle Macklem and Jess Shane. They are the producers of Constellations, a sound art and experimental narrative podcast program that unravels the distinctions between documentary, sound art, fiction and music. This episode includes "Pointing At Canopus" by Arif Mirbaghi and a Mystery box mix by Nicole Pingon which were both created for Constellations.

Winter Diary Revisited, a new work by Claude Schryer, was the first presentation of the 2022 Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art which took place on Sunday February 6th at the new NAISA North Media Arts Centre, a building recently purchased by New Adventures in Sound Art. This radio documentary is a tribute to R. Murray Schafer who passed away in August 2021. Schafer’s writing and the research undertaken with the World Soundscape Project were foundational to the development of the field of acoustic ecology. Schryer goes back to Schafer’s diaries that he was keeping in the late 1990’s when the two worked together on the production of A Winter Diary which was created for WDR Köln. Schryer's documentary also forms episode 99 of his Conscient podcast series and includes the voice of Canadian poet Robin Mathews reading Schafer’s words.

This month's episode features Ben Donoghue and his 16mm film Pierre Radisson: Fjord and Gulf from 2017, which has recently been adapted for digital presentation available online at https://www.naisa.ca/ until December 20th.

Visual and Media Artist Tansy Xiao from New York and Electroacoustic composer Véro Marengère from Montréal join Darren Copeland in a conversation about their new video works plus thoughts on how to define their work and reflections on creating during the pandemic. Here are links to the pieces being discussed: Roserade by Véro Marengère and Bone and Air by Tansy Xiao.

Today’s episode features discussions with visual artist Julia White and singer-composer-video artist Laurel MacDonald. Both artists are from NAISA’s SOUNDplay festival. Julia White uses sound recordings of creaks and other small water ways in her exhibition called WATER Shadows. The subject of water weaves through different aspects of this work, which is also informed by her practice in deep listening. Laurel MacDonald’s artistic development began in both visual arts and music. After establishing herself as a vocalist and composer she began creating video works combining abstract imagery with her vocal music. Her conversation with host Darren Copeland focuses on her latest audio-visual piece called "I Eat the Stars" which explores the poetry of astronomer Rebecca Elson and will be performed on Nov 6. Visit naisa.ca to learn more about both of these artists.

This episode goes back to an online listening gathering that took place on August 14, 2021. It featured Canadian sound art works by Zoe Gordon from Thunder Bay, Helena Korbath from Vancouver, Lucille Kim from Hamilton and Keri Latimer Winnipeg. The format of the show is like a writing club where artists and enthusiasts gather online to listen to pieces and share their impressions and comments. The works featured are on the NAISA Soundcloud album titled Sound Travels 2.

This monthly program is produced by New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA). The program features selections from the NAISA archives and is produced by Darren Copeland, NAISA Artistic Director. NAISA is a South River-based Canadian organization that presents performances and installations spanning the entire spectrum of electroacoustic and experimental sound art. The objectives of NAISA are to foster awareness and understanding locally, as well as nationally and internationally, in the cultural vitality of experimental sound art in its myriad forms of expression.