Radio Robida

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Radio Is a Silent Bell

In this series Jack Bardwell will be using field recordings and other research from a month long residency with Radio Robida, to create a series of audio essays for The Other Radio project. As he attempts to articulate his fascination for radio he gets lost on a rambling walk through bee hives, bell ringing, radio history and online streaming platforms. The episodes are accompanied by a soundtrack; a digital synthesis of the three Bells that hang atop the church tower of Topolò on the Italy/Slovenia border.

The Other Radio/Radio Drugega program is financed by Javni zavod GO! 2025 - Evropska prestolnica kulture, Nova Gorica.

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V tej radijski seriji bo Jack Bardwell uporabil terenske zvočne posnetke in druge raziskave iz enomesečnega bivanja pri Radiu Robida, s katerimi je ustvaril serijo zvočnih esejev za projekt Radio Drugega. Ko skuša ubesediti svoje navdušenje nad radijem, se izgubi na sprehodu med čebeljimi panji, zvonjenjem, zgodovino radija in spletnimi platformami za pretakanje. Epizode spremljajo avtorski zvočni posnetki; digitalna sinteza treh zvonov, ki krasijo vrh cerkvenega stolpa Topolovem na italijansko-slovenski meji.

Program Radia Drugega/The Other Radio financira javni zavod GO! 2025 - Evropska prestolnica kulture, Nova Gorica.

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Ep. 0 Harmonious Subversion

Radio Robida · Ep. 0 Radio is a Silent Bell — Harmonious Subversion / Jack Bardwell / 25.06.2023

During his radio residency for Radio Robida Jack Bardwell shares some of his research and reflections on the tradition of bell ringing and public broadcasting. In this meandering show he looks at musical re-harmonisation as both a metaphor and tangible action for subversion. A journey from interventions in bell towers by Antonio Della Marina to the music of Harmonimix.

Ep. 1 The Bells and the Bees

Radio Robida · Ep. 1 Radio Is a Silent Bell - The Bells and the Bees / Jack Bardwell / 03.02.2024

There is something hypnotic about the sound of a de-tuned radio, hive of bees, a running stream, the chitter chatter of a busy restaurant or the distant chime of bells. This episode explores why there is an intimacy to live radio and where else this might be found. It includes extracts from an interview with ethnomusicologist Mojca Kovačič.

Ep. 2 A Space to Conspire

Radio Robida · Ep. 2 Radio is a Silent Bell — A Space to Conspire / Jack Bardwell / 31.03.2024

Ep. 2 Radio of Radios

Radio Robida · Ep. 3 Radio is a Silent Bell — Radio of Radios / Jack Bardwell / 28.04.2024

Author: Jack Bardwell

ABC

Affinity

Affinities are inclinations, affections, kinships, and connections between different bodies, human and non-human. The Irish essayist Brian Dillon defined affinity as "something a little bit stupid", "a realm of the unthought, unthinkable, something that unkillable by attitudes or arguments". The realm of pre-thought inclination towards something, the realm of love, perhaps you could also call it.
Perhaps we want to use the word affinity to first recall what the German philosopher Walter Benjamin called correspondence. With this concept, Benjamin hinted at the relationship between different elements of the world or its phenomena, which meaningfully connect with each other or create a certain resonance or organic analogy between them. His notion of correspondences contains the idea that certain objects, images, or experiences can be understood in relation to other objects, images, or experiences, whereby we can begin to reveal hidden connections and meanings that would be missed if we focused solely on individual entities before them being placed in one of these relationships.

written in 2023

Aljaž Škrlep

Be-longing

Ola Korbańska

Pisdaria

“I found a pisdaria.” – “What is that pisdaria?” – “Look how many pisdarie.” – “Here we will put some pisdarie.” – “I woke up feeling a pisdaria on my left leg.” – “Look, this is such a pisdaria!”

During autumn I lived for some time in Topolò and every now and then I have been hearing Ali saying pisdaria. One afternoon the sound of this word suddenly caught my attention. I started to repeat it, not knowing exactly what it meant. It became a synonym for thing, element, moment, word, feeling – one that is a bit familiar, little, light and simple. Something that, all the time it was repeated, would make us smile. Since then, all the time I talk with Vida or Elena all the little traces, marks, cute things, crumbles are just and simply pisdarie.

I find very fascinating and beautiful how language evolves in groups of people spending time together and how the meaning of a word like pisdaria can be familiar and understood by the specific group that has been together in a certain moment in time-space.

Vida Rucli

Relaxed and disciplined

One of the most prominent Slovene partisan poets Matej Bor once wrote: “The rhythm of Slovene revolutionary poetry must merge into one with our liberation struggle. And what is the rhythm of the awakened Slovenian masses? Relaxed and disciplined at the same time. Why would we search for form in various currents and -isms? Form is dictated to us by our flowing life itself.” Living in an abandoned village throughout the whole year requires intentionality in both discipline and relaxation. While life in the city is guided by the city-flow, in Topolò, the lack of the gaze of another during winter and our consequential habit of this lack turned our gaze to the flow of surrounding nature, our loyal companion: be persistent and disciplined in growing, generous and relaxed in giving.

Written in 2022

Aljaž Škrlep

Written in 2022

Studio Wild

Temporary dweller

Dwelling is primarily the establishment of a relationship between a human being and the environment. This relationship is established through identification or a sense of belonging to a certain place. Hence, the dwelling community is not necessarily only people permanently living in the place, but also those who have an affection to the place and dedicate care to it. Those who keep returning, those who spend every holiday in a specific place, those who create for the place, those who are inspired by the place, those who experience it as a safe shelter, waiting for them like family. The set of relations between people dwelling in place and people visiting/returning are bound in time, not in a hurry, but in a low spiral time. Community is built on values such as reciprocity, collaboration, support, and care.

See also Residency, Responsibility, Return, Visiting

Written in 2023

Janja Šušnjar

Tingling

When the sunlight touches the surface of the water little sparkles appear – I call them tingles. It somehow makes me smile and feel light. When tingles affect my body, I usually can't calm down, a special enthusiasm takes over everything and makes me feel bubbling.

I love the Italian word to define this phenomena: 'formicolio', from 'formica' (ant); as when I was young and without noticing I sat over an ant hill – multitude in motion – and suddenly my body was covered of these fast little insects.
I experience different types of this little slight prickling sensation. Tingling describes both the quick, very quick movement of elements in space, the strong feeling of an emotion, and the feeling as if a lot of sharp points are being put quickly and lightly into the body.

Tingles for the unknown. Tingles for surprises. Tingles for excitement. Tingles of fear. Pins and needles.

Sometimes I take a moment to observe the splendid sparkles flowing on the surface of the water creating an over-shifting brilliant pattern. Somehow standing in a point and observing this spectacle gives me a sense of, at the same time, calm and excitement. Their magic and ephemeral presence is hard to grasp and even when I see them, if I slowly move I notice how the sparkle slowly disappears, but I carry some tingles with me.

_Tingling moments: little situations–traces–memories that I like to remember and carry-with-me. Lived moments, that if I think about, I immediately feel some joy and a sensation of lightness spreads all over me.
“How else do most of us experience history if not in the presence or absence of small things?”
Thea Lenarduzzi, Dandelions, Fitzcarraldo, 2020

Vida Rucli

Zappa

The hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural and horticultural hand tool used to shape soil, remove weeds, clear soil, and harvest root crops. Shaping the soil includes piling soil around the base of plants (hilling), digging narrow furrows (drills) and shallow trenches for planting seeds or bulbs.

Written in 2022

Studio Wild