Radio Silence

Presented as part of 48 Hours Neukölln 2024: Urban Silence

EXHIBITION HOURS
Friday, June 28, 7 pm – Sunday, June 30, 7 pm

LOCATION
ZÖNOTÉKA (Hobrechtstraße 54, 12047 Berlin)

Radio Silence is an ephemeral micro FM radio station that amplifies messages often suppressed from broader transmission. Its listening range reaches neighbours and passers-by in the immediate vicinity who actively tune in through the station’s receivers. During this 48-hour window of ‘urban silence,’ Radio Silence amplifies messages from frequencies outside the broadband of public perception. Sounds emerge from secluded spaces, the volume is raised through song and ritual, oral tellings unearth obscure histories, vibrations rise in the marching echoes of solidarity, and loud whispers of celestial forecasts tell the story of our time. As the city retreats into silence, this micro radio outpost invites locals to drop by and tune in to the polyphonic tapestry of the unsilenced urban soundscape.

CREDITS
DMX and TouchDesigner: Célestin Meunier
Graphic design: Kristel Clement, Immanuel Yang
Exhibition design: Mate Feles
Radio broadcasting: Pierre Depaz
Sound design: Andrea Dama

INSTALLATION VIEWS

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Live performance by Margaux Gazur and hany tea
Saturday, June 29, 7 pm
Free and open the public
French-Vietnamese sound artist Margaux Gazur will present a sonic exploration of the Vietnamese diaspora. Her performance will blend sounds and textures using instruments and recordings of personal stories, the sounds of Hanoi streets, her father's martial arts sessions, and traditional celebrations, contrasting them with the Berlin soundscape. Through this live performance, she will share sonic memories of the Vietnamese community. Performing alongside her is hany tea, an interdisciplinary artist, activist, and community organiser whose practice explores the intersections of diaspora, migration, memory, and urban spaces. Through sound, oral history, and storytelling, she seeks to archive narratives that capture the complexity of these interconnected experiences. ︎︎︎

Hacked Harmony: Circuit Bending Portable Transistor Radios Workshop led by Juan Orozco
Sunday, June 30, drop in from 3 pm until 7 pm (ongoing)
Free and open the public
In the context of ‘urban silence,’ we ask ourselves: what information is available to us in the public sphere, and what information do we create ourselves? What role do sound, or sound information (or disinformation) play in silencing? Composer and sound designer Juan Orozco will lead a circuit bending – hacking portable transistor radio workshop to get into the guts of these devices, get to know them, and modify them, achieving unexpected sound results. This will allow participants to modify and enrich the acoustic space surrounding them and the exhibition, thus creating, producing, and listening to their own sound information within their own frequency radius, internetless and outside the influence of hegemonic media. Participants and spectators are invited to bring their portable (battery) transistor radios, or use the ones we will have at the workshop. ︎︎︎

MEDIA PARTNER