ABC RN collaborated with Carriageworks and the Biennale of Sydney in a radio adaptation of Tacita Dean’s recent performance Event for a Stage. Courtesy the artist, Biennale of Sydney and Carriageworks.
At the heart of ABC RN’s programs Radiotonic and Soundproof, from the recently established Creative Audio Unit (CAU), is the desire to champion new programs by commissioning stories from a wide range of veteran and emerging artists and writers, and collaborating with a range of individuals, organisations and institutions in producing new works.
Radiotonic demonstrated this commitment by premiering Sydney writer Aden Rolfe’s radio drama, Like a Writing Desk, in its first program on 01 June.
In its first major collaboration, Soundproof took on an ambitious project – the radio adaptation of internationally renowned English artist Tacita Dean’s performance Event for a Stage, co-commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney and Carriageworks. Event for a Stage, Dean’s first live performance work, centered around the filming of a portrait of an actor on stage. CAU’s radio adaptation will be presented on Soundproof Sunday, 15 June at 8pm.
CAU Executive Producer Julie Shapiro said the Carriageworks project was a great reference point for future collaborations.
‘Radio is a very visual – if not the most visual medium – I have said that countless times since I started working in the field. In this case, we took four nights of Tacita Dean’s performance and created a radiophonic version of that.’ She added, ‘Radiophonic, to me, means drawing out the qualities of the aural perspective, and understanding how something comes across through sound – the textures, the layers that sound evokes – so we are talking about a very visual performance and recreating it in a way that is just for listening.’
Soundproof producer and presenter Miyuki Jokiranta said such collaborations offered the opportunity to show arts institutions that radio is also an artform and another destination for the work they do. ‘Adapting works from theatre or sound installations, radio can actually be “in school” and in dialogue with these organisations.’
Carriageworks Performance Curator Rosie Fisher said radio was a dynamic platform that artists and arts organisations should be using to reach audiences. ‘We are committed to presenting an artist-led, multidisciplinary program at Carriageworks and working with ABC RN on this project was a fantastic opportunity for us to be able to offer an artist this chance at collaboration.’
Fisher said she was excited that Australia had RN’s Creative Audio Unit. ‘They have pledged that a large portion of the CAU budget is allocated for commissioning new works from artists, writers, musicians and radio-makers in Australia and internationally.’
While the upcoming episode of Soundproof featuring the adaptation of Dean’s work pushes the boundaries of presenting performance on the radio, the inaugural Radiotonic program offered an edgy, modern approach to radio drama, with Like a Writing Desk.
Image Matt Roden; supplied by RN
The 40-minute radio “mockumentary” about the power of myth and the failure of ego has been selected for the prestigious Prix Italia and Prix Marulić radio festivals in Europe, and features the voices of Marcus Graham (Home and Away, Mulholland Drive), Zoe Carides (Mystery Road, Not Suitable for Children) and Mitchell Butel (South Pacific, Avenue Q).
Author Aden Rolfe explained: ‘It’s a dark comedy about crows, ravens and how they manifest in our lives, whether that is physically, culturally or symbolically.’
Shapiro described Rolfe’s piece as ‘a very clever, contemporary take on what radio drama can sound like – in sound design, rhythm, and overall tone’.
The project was years in development and many months in production. ‘The producer and director Jane Ulman and Russell Stapleton have done amazing work on it. The production sounds incredible,’ said Rolfe.
He said Radiotonic and Soundproof were exciting prospects from a writer’s perspective because they would fill a gap within the Australian radio landscape for new radio drama and narrative.
‘What is interesting is that they both seem to be flexible spaces to work; they’re not tied strictly to radio documentary, or radio drama, or experimental sound work…the idea is that all three can sit next to each other as programs obviously creates a greater sense of possibility of what you can do within the sounds of those programs and their particular brief.’
For Rolfe, this flexibility is reflected most strongly in A Thoroughly Wet Mess, a serial radio drama currently in development with the CAU producer Jesse Cox, which will be broadcast in late 2014.
‘You now have this space where you can put A Thoroughly Wet Mess up, for example, for the first 14 minutes and then find another 44 minutes to fill the radio hour from other projects and other works,’ Cox said.
‘I know RN’s CAU is interested in ways in which people who haven’t previously written or created projects for radio or for sound can intercept in the unit in interesting ways,’ Rolfe said.
Shapiro echoed Rolfe words: ‘I’ve heard from so many potential collaborators in these first months the CAU has been operating. It’s encouraging to know so many writers and artists are interested in making work with us. The best way for anyone to get onto our radar is simply by sending an email and starting the conversation.’
Both Radiotonic and Soundproof are available as podcasts or can be downloaded or streamed. ABC RN is the ABC’s national ideas network. Connect with RN.
