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On Air
Work for Live Art Denmark
2007: “Hotel Radio” at Berliner Luft 3.
Hotel Radio
In a certain hotel
plans were made
to broadcast,
from a tower on the roof of the hotel.
Radio broadcasts.
The name of this hotel was the Hotel Radio.
Richard Foremann
Hotel Radio is presented as quasi “talk radio”. Sequences vary from quiz shows to phone-ins, on topics ranging from garbage to duck hunting. Fast switching between segments, technical confusion, interruptions, and silence create extreme changes in the atmosphere of the piece. Hotel Radio observes a single person in a game with different communication and information systems, and documents the loneliness which lies beneath.
Photo: Gert van der Pumperlei
About the Artists
Founded in 2002, ON AIR is the Berlin based production company of Frauke Havemann and Eric Schefter. Over the years they have created films, performances and installations developed in collaboration with various authors, filmmakers and performers.
How did ON AIR start?
Frauke Havemann joined forces with video artist Eric Schefter and performer Neal Wach to explore the juncture between live performance and video. Starting from a collection of “found” texts, they began rehearsing and shooting. As in a game, rules and tasks were developed which could be followed or ignored. The cinematic principle of “the cut” could be used for interruption, irritation or an expandable interval. The goal was to be precise in timing and reaction, while allowing decision-making and flexibility within the performance situation, a challenge with Neal playing against himself on video.
They worked out a system in which prerecorded video, audio, and live camera feeds were switched by Eric during the show. In the beginning he had DVD and CD players for the prerecorded material, and passive switchers for the video; now he is using software (Isadora) which allows for an even more responsive interaction. Since the media stream is non-linear and random access, the timing (and sometimes content) can change from performance to performance. Within this “apparatus” the various “figures” communicate, swap roles, screw up, and repeat themselves, enjoying all the mistakes, misunderstandings and, sometimes, even harmony….
This info is from Frauke’s website.