Episode 44: Anna Friz
Radiotelegraph (16:08)
Friz’s Radiotelegraph is a sending of a radiotelegraph in spoken morse code from the Skaftfell Center for Visual Art in the small town of Seyðisfjörður on the east coast of Iceland where she is undertaking a two-month residency. Seyðisfjörður is located in a deep fjord off the Atlantic Ocean just shy of the Arctic Circle, and was the site of the first telegraph cable connection between Iceland and Europe in 1906. 1906 was also the year of the first audio transmission of the human voice by wireless means undertaken by Reginald Fessenden on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean at Brant Rock, Massachusetts.
Radiotelegraph is a beacon simulcast by a private low-watt transmitter in Seyðisfjörður (on 107.1 FM) and by Radius Chicago (88.9 FM) at sundown Seyðisfjörður time, for a period of five days in October. The beacon signals the descent of the sun into the northern night. Voice, electronics, and radio signals, all recorded and mixed at Hóll, Seyðisfjörður.
Anna Friz is a Canadian sound and radio artist currently based in Chicago. She specializes in multi-channel transmission systems for installation, performance, and broadcast, where radio is the source, subject and medium of the work. She also composes works for theatre, dance, film and solo performance that reflect upon public media culture or reveal interior landscapes. She has performed and exhibited widely across North America, South America, and Europe, and her radio art/works have been heard on the airwaves of more than 20 countries. Anna holds a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture from York University, Toronto, and recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Sound Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a free103point9 transmission artist.
Radius Episode 44: Anna Friz originally broadcast for five consecutive days as a simulcast by a private low-watt transmitter in Seyðisfjörður, Iceland on 107.1-FM and by Radius in Chicago, USA on 88.9-FM at sundown Seyðisfjörður time on October 7, 2013 (12:59 PM CDT), 8 (12:56 PM CDT), 9 (12:52 PM CDT), 10 (12:48 PM CDT), and 11 (12:45 PM CDT).