Ethan Rose
Hum
01:01:06

Ethan Rose’s Hum responds specifically to the Jefferson Substation, an electrical substation that is located just outside the loop of downtown Chicago. The step down transformers at the Substation emit an audible 60 cycle hum. This rich harmonic drone permeates the surrounding city blocks. For this site-specific radio broadcast, installation, and performance, Rose assembled a small choir of vocalists who will be positioned at a near distance to the transformers. The choir hums the overtone series in harmony with the transformer’s buzz.

The choir’s hum is broadcast and radios are provided to an ambulatory audience. Visitors are invited to explore the site on their own time with radios in hand, freely moving between the embodied presence of the performers and the electrical transformers. Encountering cycles of energy, perception, and transmission, the audience carries the sound of the humming choir to its pulsating electric source.

Hum was performed by Dan Mohr, Casey Mather, Lee Blalock, Noe Cuellar, Angela Watkins, Becky Grajeda, and Alyssa Moxley.

http://theradius.us/episode51

Radius Episode 51 is the second episode of GRIDS. GRIDS is a four-part series of radio broadcasts at four electrical production or distribution centers in Chicago that examines energy propagation and distribution.

theradius.us/grids

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Episode 51: Ethan Rose

Radius is an experimental radio broadcast platform established in 2010 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Radius produces, exhibits, and distributes work by radio and transmission artists from around the world.

Radius features a new project monthly with statements by artists who use radio as a primary element in their work. Radius provides artists with live and experimental formats in radio programming. The goal is to support work that engages the tonal and public spaces of the electromagnetic spectrum.