⏩ Chilean professor, musician, and researcher blending techniques of musique concrète and experimental radio art, in NOISE is the Message.

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🎚️ Signal Flow =⏩⫸
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█ ONTHISROAD: GFRBST (Gerardo Figueroa R) presents his performative composition at NOISE is the Message.

👉 Gerardo Figueroa explores sound through concrete music and radio art in contemporary soundscapes

🖖🏽 Programe Notes

«This Story is NOT Available»

—| GFR

“This Story Is Not Available/Esta historia no está disponible (2)” (2020/2024)
Radio artwork for solo reader and Instagram social media platform.

The piece was recorded and performed by Gerardo Figueroa Rodríguez in the early hours of Wednesday, November 13, 2024, using a Zoom H4n in 4-channel mode. The process involved activating the Instagram social media platform on a MacBook Air Catalina via the LibreWolf browser, connected to a Topp Pro 602 B mixing desk.

This project delves into the intersections of radio art, social media, and technology, bridging the gap between the ephemeral and the permanent. The technical process highlights the resourcefulness of using common tools and turning them into vehicles for sonic and narrative experimentation.

🐚 Thank you, FIGUE!

💻 About our PROCESS

The work emerged in late 2019, when the year’s social movements intensified the use of the stories feature on Instagram. At that time, the platform stored these stories for 24 hours, announcing their expiration with the notification that gives this piece its title.

A first version, without a solo reader, was recorded in 2020 using a Zoom h4n and premiered on the miscellaneous podcast Esto lo puede hacer cualquiera (second season). This version was recorded with an Android phone.

Since then, I explored the possibility of creating a live version, projecting the stories and reading all the written information presented in each one according to its duration, without prior review or censorship. However, concerns about the privacy of the information shared, combined with the ephemeral nature of the act and the subsequent quarantine, put this endeavor on hold.

This current version proposes a creative solution to these issues, omitting the names of the original accounts and specific personal references—unless the information is publicly relevant. The text was read following the speed of each projection, explaining the incompleteness of significant parts of the performance.

The playback method chosen did not delete the stories but did make it impossible to maintain a continuous flow. The message something went wrong appeared unexpectedly, persistently, and strikingly, prompting me to consider subtitling this version accordingly. Three pauses during the performance further reinforced its impact.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the stories read are the sole responsibility of those who posted them and do not necessarily reflect the views of the performer or El Ruido es el Mensaje..

We hope you enjoy it.

📣 Thus, we release a new NOISE of the 2024 cycle.
📝 Research, production and editing work carried out by Gerardo Figueroa Rodríguez 🇨🇱 and Franco Falistoco 🇦🇷 in November 2024.