„Play
Babel“ is the title of a performative radio intervention in public
space, realised on the Brunnenmarkt in Vienna and broadcast by Radio
Orange 94.0 in September 2010 by Anna Raimondo. The Babylonian
confusion of tongues, translations and missunderstandings are a
recurring theme in Raimondos radio work.
Having grown up in Naples, she lived in Madrid, Marseille and other places, and will move to London in the near future.
For Kunstradio Anna Raimondo has produced new works, amongst which
there is also this charming self-presentation of the radio artists. No
more words on Raimondo's background necessary.
Presentation by Anna Raimondo
In her piece „La vie en rose“ Anna Raimondo builds a bridge between two
cities she is well familiar with, or, to be more precise, she connects
them via water.
“In between Marseille and Naples, and navigating through the
Mediterranean. One is the city in which I was born; the other is the
one that has adopted me.
“La vie en bleu” is an intimate immersion into two realities where the
main element is still the sea. The sea that cleanses, that purifies,
that represents a form of catharsis because you can immerse yourself
and forget what’s left outside. In both cities, the sea filtrates
reality, and this is also what water does in this radio piece. The
intimate perspective becomes an aquatic trip.
Field recordings and hydrophonic recordings in a soundscape composition
in which blue is the dominant color. Blue as the sea, blue as the
colors of both Naples and Marseille’s football teams…”
„La vie en bleu“
by Anna Raimondo
Soundmix: Anna Raimondo and Tony Regnauld
When living in Madrid, Anna Raimondo started working with
soundscapes which she discovered as a means of non-verbal
communication. In the area of Lavapiés in central Madrid, she recorded
street life as well as conversations with locals. „Lavapiés Chipén“,
the acoustic portrait of a city quarter, was awarded with the Prix
Madrid Abierto 2010.
„The police horses, some children playing in the streets,
Rastro’s market, some musicians in the public space, bells, cars, those
are some of the sounds that build up the soundscape of Lavapies’
neighborhood in the south of Madrid. A series of interviews with old
people, who was born in the neighborhood, recompose Lavapiès’ sound
memory.“
„Lavapiés Chipén. Memoria de un barrio“
by Anna Raimondo and Manuel Calurano Ramos
Next up are two new productions drawing back on the beginning of this
broadcast dedicated to Anna Raimondo. „English with Ralph!“ contains a
bonus track entitled „False friends“. Both pieces play with the tricks
and malidies of languages and translations.
“The synthetic radiophonic English teacher Ralph is set to communicate,
but it feels all alone. It’s not human but it can think. All in all
it’s there to make you think. In English.
When you learn a language, some words that look or sound the same in
your mother tongue can actually mean something different and induce you
into embarassing situations. Even when you speak in your mother tongue,
or with your best friend, you might feel misunderstood.
“English with Ralph, using the pretext of an English interactive radio
course, is a form of didactic surrealism. The result is a sound
mixture, as illogical as it is instructive, on communication’s aporias.“
„'False friends' is an electroacoustical composition for radio based on
different voices telling similar words with different accents and
meanings (Italian, French, Spanish, German, English). A list of false
friends is the starting point of the present work: terms that 'sound'
very similar, but have different meanings according to the language.
The Italian adjective 'morbido' (soft) doesn’t have the same meaning as
the French and English'morbid'. English 'soap' reminds of the Spanish
word 'sopa', but in the second case it means 'soup'. The Spanish
adjective “embarazada” (pregnant) doesn’t mean 'imabarazzata' in
Italian, neither 'embarassée' in French, nor 'embarassed'in English. '
'Constipada' in Spanish is not the same as 'constipée' in French or
'costipata' in Italian. And so on.
False friends, as the word suggests, are a source of misunderstandings.
In the present work, they become over all sound material.“
„English with Ralph“ & „False friends“
by Anna Raimondo
Soundmix: Anna Raimondo und Tony Regnauld
Links: http://annaraimondo.wordpress.com/works-radio-creation
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