The Wake

In an age when one can drive from New York to Los Angeles listening to the same corporate crap on the same Clear Channel radio stations in every single state, some have stood up in active resistance to the mass media monopolies. On Thursday, Oct. 28, travelers along University Avenue will be able to hear over fifty different independent broadcasts from micro-transmitters set up in locations ranging from the University of Minnesota to the State Capital. Radio Re-Volt, a Walker Art Center project which began over four months ago, will culminate with the broadcast event followed by a two-day conference on Friday and Saturday.

Most corporate radios transmit signals at 100 kilowatts or more. The micro-radio transmitters utilized in this project are restricted to .001 watt, the legal limit established by the Federal Communication Commission for non-licensed broadcasters. With a range of only about 200 feet, the micro-transmitters certainly do not offer layman disc jockeys the opportunity to commercially challenge the corporate stations. Radio Re-Volt, however, is not an attempt to compete in the mass media marketplace. Rather, it is an effort at encouraging people to create their own media and empowering them to actively express their own unique voices. Artists-in-residence Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, conceivers of this project, envision a world where the collective watts of citizens armed with micro-transmitters might rival the broadcasting powers of major corporate stations.

Radio Re-Volt began to take shape when Allora and Calzadilla approached the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WATAC) about doing a public collaborative art project. Meeting with the teens revealed recurrent concerns about consumer culture, corporate monopolies and a lack of genuine representation in the media. The result of these discussions is an attempt to respond to these very issues.

Witt Siasoco, teen programs manager at the Walker, effectively summarizes the main issues behind the idea. “Radio Re-Volt seeks to rethink the voltage – who has the power to transmit, who owns this power, how this power can be reformed and re-directed – in order to recover radio as a self-controlled tool and generate diversity in the ownership and programming of the radio waves.”

Radio Re-Volt has hosted over 20 workshops in the past four months, reaching over 400 participants. Attendees received pre-assembled transmitter kits, in addition to important education regarding the history, use and care of micro-transmitters. The kits, which cost about $25, were given free of charge to workshop attendees.

Listeners can tune in to 97.7 FM from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28 to enjoy a diversity of music, talk and other assorted sonic delights. Due to the short range of the transmitters, listeners will have to be at specific locations along University Avenue to pick up separate broadcasts.

Signs posted along the streets will identify ideal reception areas for each participating transmitter.

The University Avenue broadcast will be followed by the two-day RAD: Radio, Access, Democracy conference. The conference begins at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29, and continues from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 30. Local, national and international voices come together to explore the creative and political potential of the media. The conference will include panel discussions, a Radio Re-Volt workshop, and a film screening. A variety of speakers will be present, including keynote speaker Tetsuo Kogawa, pioneer of the mini-FM movement in Japan.

For further information regarding the broadcast or conference, call the Walker Art Center at 612.375.7622 or visit http://www.walkerart.org.