In keeping with recent work in live transmission arts, ISP Bloomington performs and activates the space of transmission. Rather than focusing exclusively on what is broadcast, though the content of the transmissions is certainly important, the project invites questioning about the conditions in which it unfolds. Addressing Brecht's early call for a two-way, communicative radio that can be heard echoed in contemporary discourse on new media as democratizing forces, ISP Bloomington invites the spectator to participate in the production and experience of the piece as it unfolds on air and in real time. The mobility of the low-power transmitter creates ever-shifting conditions for reception of the broadcasts, while the GPS unit fixes the performer’s body in triangulated space, and the combination of live and recorded sound reflects on broad issues concerning the history and experience of radiophonic space. The gap between transmission and reception, identified by radio artist Gregory Whitehead as the core of the radio form, becomes articulated with other cultural and economic gaps: the gap between two wildly different state-supported campuses; the gap between the bodies they house or employ; the gap between the economies and outcomes of education and incarceration.
A gallery component of the work, to be displayed for the duration of the festival, will include photographs, gps map drawings, and textual information about and documentation of the project and the two sites. However, the heart of ISP Bloomington concerns the day-long performative and transmissional rumination on the relationship between education and imprisonment. Listening stations will be set up around the campus to receive the transmissions as they flicker in and out of range on the walks, and informational materials will be provided at the listening stations to encourage participants to join in the performance.
