One of a series of sound and video works made for Street Level Simplon 2003, Switzerland and Italy. An international art project incorporating the public space by Pfelder, Simone Zaugg and street level coop.
Spots in Time was a collaboration with (Swiss German) local radio station Radio Rottu (102.20 FM), which 'covers' much of the Simplon Pass area (though mountains do affect the reception in some areas).
I borrowed recording equipment from the station, and spent a few days capturing sounds - insects, the call and response of songbirds, the dawn chorus, farm animals, and a (calamitous) encounter with an array of beehives. A beautiful recording but such a painful aftermath! These were rough recordings, capturing wind noise on the microphone. At the radio station, a selection were edited down to short moments (5 - 10 seconds) and digitally stored as 'jingles' , to be easily retrieved on the radio station's networked computer system.
It was up to the discretion of individual Rottu DJs to use the jingles to interrupt broadcasts. These interruptions were to be without announcement. These tiny, rough little recordings of insects, birds, weather might now temporarily halt the flow of generic, largely trans-Atlantic rock and pop.
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