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April Showers Bring May Sound Art
For the entire month of May, the Deep Wireless festival will be taking place at various venues, from the west end to your very own living room. Presented by New Adventures in Sound Art, this is the sixth edition of the annual festival that explores the medium of experimental sound and radio art.
Don’t let the idea of experimental audio art put you off. It’s far more accessible than it sounds, and with a full month of programming there’s bound to be something that piques your interest.
If you’re a hands-on kind of person, sign up for Stephen Kelly and Eleanor King’s “How To Make a Contact Mic” workshop at InterAccess (9 Ossington Street) on May 9th at 6 p.m. by emailing [email protected]. Or bring a portable radio and cell phone and take part in Trans-local Performance happening simultaneously at InterAccess and Gallery 1313 (1313A Queen Street West) at 7 p.m. on May 10th. The Toronto performers (and audience) will be joined by Tetsuo Kogawa from Japan, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Tickets are $5 and can be had by calling 416-910-7231.
If you’d rather just sit back and be entertained, stop by Gallery 1313 and check out the installations that will be set up from May 2nd to May 27th. There are also performances happening all month, including Radio in Ambience, presented by The Ambient Ping. On May 22nd at 8 p.m. at The Drake Hotel, radio artists will “coax the radio ether into an outer-worldly electro ambient chill.” The full schedule is available on the Deep Wireless website’s performances page.
Finally, those of you who aren’t convinced enough to head to an event can experience Deep Wireless from home though radio broadcasts throughout the month. Deep Wireless has partnered with CBC Radio’s Outfront to select four artists-in-residence who have each created a piece for presentation and broadcast during the festival. Among them are Sarah Boothroyd’s sonic exploration of Ottawa’s Nicholas Street Jail, the site of Canada’s last public execution that now houses a traveler’s hostel, and Thelon Oeming’s examination of the transformation of Parkdale. Details about these, and all other Deep Wireless events, can be found on the festival website.
Photo by redhousepainter from the Torontoist Flickr Group.