R A D I O    R O C K S

RADIO ROCKS 2003 PDF Catalogue

(download: click each page that has a hand for sound)

Dove Bradshaw’s latest time-sculpture, Radio Rocks with its randomly received live sound, heralds a new element of Indeterminacy in her work. For the first exhibition three cone-shaped sculptures were each composed of different stone: Wissahickon schist, Pocono sandstone and a basalt mixture. Their shapes were chosen to evoke ancient cairns used as Neolithic astronomical markers and functioned also as multi-directional antennas. Within each sculpture were three radios each designed to receive frequencies from a different zone–local, World Band shortwave and outer space. Galena, fluorite, pyrite and tourmaline acted as non-linear mixers and were computer programmed to attract random local and World Band frequencies. Hematite acted as a mixer continuously channeling Weather Radio. Live radio emissions from Jupiter were transmitted on a dedicated line from a radio telescope at Lanihuli Radio Observatory in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Random radio storms including S-Bursts–bursts of less than a hundredth of a second occurring during storms lasting for two or three hours, and Bow Shocks–the sound of solar windflow hitting Jupiter's magnetic field were captured live. Each sculpture incorporated a third receiver using technology developed by the satellite industry which continuously picked up microwaves identified as echoes of the Big Bang. Levels were set at a murmur, thus outer space sounds invoked celestial harmonies that in the quieter times of Pythagoras have been referred to as the “Music of the Spheres.”

     

 

 

 

 

 
First drawing of Radio Rocks, 1998
 

Radio Rock, 1998
Pyrite embedded in igneous rock; pyrite mixer, gold tipped cat whisker, radio computer programmed to pick up radio signals.
Exhibited: Wireless, Santa Barbara Forum, California, 2011
John Cage: A Centennial Celebration (With Friends, 2012)

   

 

 


Radio Rock, 1998, inverted
 

Radio Rock, 1998/2003
Permanent installation commissioned by
Baronessa Lucretzia Durini, Bolognano, Italy

 

Close-up: Top, World Band Shortwave signal, Left,
local radio and Right micro-wave signals from outer space.
 

Radio Rocks Poster, Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, 2008; image of Radio Rocks II, 2008, on basalt cairn with galena in the copper sphere receiving World Band Shortwave frequencies; the pyrite mixer in the copper triangle receives random local frequencies; on right the third radio receives live radio emissions from Jupiter via computer on a dedicated line from a radio telescope at Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman, North Carolina as well as Kanihuli Radio Observatory in Haneohe, Hawaii.

   


 

Radio Rocks I, 1998/2008, Local and World Band Shortwave and Microwave Signals on Pocono  sandstone cairn,  Pyrite mixer in copper tetrahedron is computer programmed to pick up live World Band Shortwave frequencies; Fluorite mixer in copper spiral is programmed to pick up live local frequencies; Microwave signal converter amplifies echoes of the Big Bang.

 

Radio Rocks I, II, III, 1998/2008
Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, 2008

 

Radio Rocks III, 1998/2008: Weather Radio, World Band Shortwave, and Microwave Sounds
on Wissahickon schist cairn; Black tourmaline mixer in copper cube is computer programmed to continuously pick up a dedicated Weather Radio frequency; Pyrite in copper triangle hooked up to the interior of the radio (with LED lights) is programmed to receive random World Band Shortwave frequencies; Microwave signal converter (in silver cuboid) amplifies echoes of the Big Bang

 

Tesla Radio Rock, 2014, Pyrite, crystals, conglomerate rock with pyrite, gold tipped cat-whisker, microcomputer and electronics for the transmitter, theremin, radio,Teslacoils, MP3 player, capacitor, speakers

Commissioned by Colorado College, Colorado Springs to commemorate one of Tesla’s 1899 Colorado Springs experiments. Transmission/Frequency: Tesla and His LegacyCurator: Jessica Hunter Larsen; artists: Dove Bradshaw, Michel de Broin, Dmitry Gelfand and Evelina Domnitch, David Fodel, neuroTransmitter, Matthew Ostrowski, Björn SchüelkeI .D.E A., Colorado CollegeColorado Springs, www.theideaspace.com