What is free103point9 and what are transmission arts?

free103point9 is a non-profit media arts organization focused on establishing and cultivating Transmission Arts. This genre includes experimental practices in radio art, video art, light sculpture, and installation and performance utilizing the wireless spectrum. free103point9 activities support and promote artists exploring transmission mediums for creative expression. free103point9 programs include transmission-based public performances and exhibitions, an experimental music series, an online radio station and distribution label, an education initiative, and an artist residency program and study center.

Founded in 1997 as a microcasting artist collective, free103point9's goals during the formative years were focused on the microradio movement fight's for public access to the airwaves. free103's mobile operations made airtime available to community voices, local bands, and most significantly to a group of under-served artists shaping conceptual works specifically for radio transmission.


PROGRAMS


PERFORMANCE/EXHIBITION/TRANSMISSION SERIES (PETS): Each year free103point9 organizes installations, performances, and site-specific projects with artists using transmissions mediums for creative expression.

FREE103POINT9 ONLINE RADIO: free103point9 Online Radio features performances and events with artists working in transmission mediums as well as movements in experimental electronic sound such as noise, free jazz, and avant-folk. Available around the clock, Online Radio also features special guest segments, selections from free103point9's archives, audio theater, and other forms of radio expression.

DISPATCH SERIES: Launched in the fall of 2001, free103point9's Dispatch Series include ten releases a season. A showcase for free103point9 collaborating artists, these releases are live recordings from free103point9 events, thematic compilations, and commissioned artist's projects. free103point9 Dispatches are available at Printed Matter, Inc., Kim's Music and Video in New York and at all free103 events. Dispatches are also distributed to stores and online through Zerotec, Triage, Squid Co, and the free103 Web site.

RADIO LAB: free103point9 considers education a key aspect of its mission. Each year free103 organizes a series of workshops on transmission as a creative medium, how transmitters work, and the history of broadcasting. A core curriculum "Wave Guide" is available online.

AIRTIME ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAM: AIRtime residencies are available, by application, to artists pursuing new works with transmission mediums. The residencies take place at free103point9's Wave Farm, a retreat-like setting on 30 acres in upstate New York.

STUDY CENTER & ARCHIVE: Future plans at free103point9's Wave Farm include the construction of a study center and archive specific to Transmission Arts. This public resource will house the free103point9 archives and a reference library featuring listening and viewing copies of key transmission works.