Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art
The 24th annual edition of the Deep Wireless Festival of Radio and Transmission Art opens in South River on January 9. This year’s Deep Wireless Festival includes exhibitions, performances, broadcasts and a digital album that explore the theme There is Art in Our Nature.
“The complexity of the natural world is astounding in its diversity and acoustic nuance. What are the acoustic influences of nature on the sound-making taking place today? Deep Wireless begins a year long exploration for NAISA’s 2025 programming that amplifies the collaborative relationship between art-making and nature through its 2025 theme There is Art in Our Nature. Wireless transmission of all kinds, from the Internet of Things (IoT) prototyping platform to Micro-Radio FM Broadcast, become a conduit to experience the natural world.” — Darren Copeland, Artistic Director, New Adventures in Sound Art
Launching February 1, 2024
Check out the media archive for this album and more.
FREE
The 19th edition of the Deep Wireless Compilation includes works that examine the relationship of people and the natural world. Unheard and unexpected encounters with nature are brought to life in radio art and sound art works by Canadian and international artists.
Ensign Peak is a prominent lookout point near downtown Salt Lake City. Per historical accounts, early settlers used this hill to survey the valley, perform religious services and receive divine messages. Matthew Driggs McMurray hiked to Ensign Peak to record whatever signals and messages were present on the same hilltop site. There are three layers to the ‘Meta-Frequency’ recording capture that he made:
Layer I: The Natural (ORTF stereo)
Layer II: The Physical (Weather radio)
Layer III: The Electromagnetic (EMF scanner)
The EMF antenna scans included 1) the open environment, 2) the electromagnetic fields created by the recording equipment itself, and 3) the artist's own body (acting as a conduit for radio signals).
This piece is based on a train trip from Toronto to Vancouver that Andra McCarthy took in August 2018. In the piece she reflects on the journey, and the widespread smoke and freight delays that structured it. The way that she worked with the sounds was inspired by a quote from Dylan Robinson's curatorial score Soundings (Kingston ON 2018) "the sub-frequency of colonial labour resonates your body". Vocals are by Andra McCartney and Narcy (the Narcicyst). This piece premiered by New Adventures in Sound Art, South River, ON, in multi-channel form realized by Darren Copeland.
“Non-predictable” is an exploration of the sounds of turbulence in nature. Do the sounds of wind hitting trees or the tonal colours of moving water have emotions that fluctuate over time? This piece is arranged in three sections that are approximately 15 minutes each.
The multi-species Pigeon Band project began with the question: “Do pigeons like music?” Two toy synth keyboards were installed on my kitchen window sill, awaiting the daily pigeon visitors. Over several months of practice, the pigeons learned to play the keyboard as they snacked on sunflower seeds. Though each pigeon can be hard to tell apart visually, they each have their own personalities and movements. With those differences they each play a different song.
The Pigeon Band benefited from the collaboration of many artists and friends: Blunderspublik, D Badua, Julia Fenn, Charlie Glasspool, Sarah DeCarlo, Polly-Jean Vernon, Veronica Ing, The Burning Hell, Jas Nasty, Chris International, Babe Chorus, Anomalia and Charlie Petch.
The album debuted at the 27th Annual Reel Asian International Film Festival in November 2023. Produced by Emmie Tsumura. Mastered by Julia Fenn.
This recording of the inner vibrations of a black poplar tree (45°22'53.6"N 92°42'17.6"W) is taken from a series of land artworks in which sounds detected within the bodies of living trees are broadcast into their surrounding environments in real time. These sounds are detected by attaching industrial grade accelerometers to various sections of the tree, e.g., the trunk, branches, roots and are transmitted over FM and UHF frequency ranges. They are accessible in their environments via a radio receiver.
ZAND is artistic research with sand grains as material, concept and sound. Viewed from different perspectives, the sand grains become a place to explore and wander. A composition of subtle grains to colossal layers of sound and back again. A movement, a duration, a route.
As a composer and sound artist, Marieke Van de ven likes to zoom in on environmental sounds. Starting with the sound of sand was a sonic adventure where texture and associations with the material were guiding the process. In search of the meaning of the ordinary under our feet and always returning to the origin of the material.
Check out the media archive for this album and more.
FREE
The Near North Mobile Media Lab in North Bay has partnered with New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) in the presentation of five audio pieces using ice sounds by Canadian artists Shaughn Martel, Lina Choi, Genevieve Kiessling, Kyle Vanderlaan and Stephanie Dupuis.
January 17, 2025, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario
FREE
On January 17, come for cake and listen to stories told by South River Seniors. Seniors in the local community have been gathering every Wednesday night since September to share stories and memories. These sessions have led to a weekly Podcast and NAISA Radio program South
River Seniors Telling Their Stories. January 17 is also Art’s Birthday, a celebration of Art around the World. To experience other Art's Birthday parties visit the Arts Birthday Mesh.
Radio Art Performance for online and in-person audiences
By Ben Donoghue
February 1, 2025, 6 pm (Dinner available at 5:15 pm)
NAISA North Media Arts Centre, 313 Highway 124, South River, Ontario. Online audiences register in advance for access.
General $12, Vegan meals available for in-person audiences for additional $8-9
Tree Frog Radio in the Northern Gulf Islands is an unique underground FM radio initiative in British Columbia that uses trees as antenna masts for localized radio broadcasts - expanding the community's boundaries of the possible. In this work interviews and field recordings about Tree Frog Radio collide through loopers and feedback systems in order to blur the space between audio documentary, drone and noise.
Online listeners will enjoy a special video feed of the performance while in-person audiences will hear a localized FM broadcast over dinner. Both audiences will join together in a discussion about the powers of radio to strengthen community ties.
Ice Follies Listening Party
February 15 and 16, 2025, 7 pm
Olmstead Beach, Trout Lake, North Bay
FREE
The Near North Mobile Media Lab in North Bay is partnering with New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) in the presentation of five audio pieces by Shaughn Martel, Lina Choi, Genevieve Kiessling, Kyle Vanderlaan and Stephanie Dupuis on the theme Ozhaashikwaa (The Ice is Slippery). The pieces will use ice sounds recorded on Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake and will be played at two special listening parties during the outdoor Ice Follies Festival.
Online Workshop
By Jane Tingley
March 8, 2025, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Online Event. Advance Registration Required
General $25
Jane Tingley will introduce the IoT prototyping platform shiftr for connecting sensor data to the Max programming environment. She will teach participants how to think about distributed systems, and how to use shiftr as a server that interconnects these systems.
This workshop will use the same sensor data stream used by Foresta Inclusive: (ex)tending towards, which was collected from the rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge, ON in the summer of 2022.
Tingley will lead participants in the process of importing this data stream into Max, in order to create their own sound and media creations.