Touch of Nature aerial picture

April 14, 2022

Seed Radio Confluence at SIU Touch of Nature on April 23

by Kamaria Harmon

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Artists and scholars will develop an understanding of radio art during Seed Radio, The Confluence of Radio Art, Space and Place at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center.

At the all-day event, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., attendees will engage in workshops and panel discussions and hear works from students and featured artists during the concert that evening.  All events are free and open to the public.

SIU professor of Audio Arts and organizer of Seed Radio Jay Needham said the purpose of this confluence is to connect like-minded individuals and provide attendees a chance to consider the culture around ecology and its relationship to technology.

"This is a meeting of artists and scholars who are interested in kinships of listening and performing that deepen our understanding of ecological art," he said.

Seed Radio is inspired by a written piece created by featured artist Anna Friz and published by Future Farmers, an artist collective working across various media. Friz examined the relationship between radio and seeds, highlighting the term “broadcasting.” It’s a reference to both the casting of seeds in the sense of wild and agricultural plant propagation and in the sense of transmission of radio waves.

Events

  • 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Seed Radio workshop and introduction performance.
  • 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. – Panel discussion: “The Confluence of Radio, Space, and Place”
  • 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. – Seed Radio final performance, featuring artists Anna Friz, Jeff Kolar, Stephan Moore and Jay Needham.

The performance and workshops will also be streamed at twitch.tv/seedradio .

For additional information:

Sponsoring partners include Touch of Nature, School of Media Arts, Artspace 304, City of Carbondale, regional arts organization, Northwestern University, Wave Farm/WGXC 90.7-FM, and programming partner in New York State and GLASS, the Great Lakes Association for Sound Studies.

Questions may be directed to organizer Jay Needham at jayn@siu.edu or visit his website jayneedham.net.