dvd - RIXC
Using for artistic purposes a radio-telescope, active during the cold war as an important technological articulation of the Soviet military power, stands out as one of the few cases in the world in converting occult deployments into positive outcomes. Not anymore workable for spying and surveillance purposes, the huge dish (32 meters diameter), placed in a wide forest between Estonia and Lithuania, was finally returned in 1994 to the legitimate young Latvia independent republic. The entire structure was entrusted to the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC) only years later. Beyond the usual scientific purposes they have been active in involving international sound artists, media activists and cultural workers in a collaborative broadcasting project focused on the antenna picked up frequencies. During the Acoustic.Space.Lab Symposium, that took place at Irbene in 2001, the participants were asked to focus on three themes strictly connected: first analyzing the internal movements produced by the RT-32 telescope mechanisms, then carefully analyzing the near forest, and finally exploring the fascinating aural outer space. The latter was approached through its multiple sources, that means satellite communications and all the other acoustic signals that travels in the atmosphere. The whole story is well documented in this dvd, that can beyond claiming really amazing sounds offers a complete set of pictures of what happened there.
Aurelio Cianciotta