"Wave of Light, Field of Sound" In Support of BeLoved Asheville
This week we’re broadcasting from a rain soaked front porch in beautiful Western North Carolina with Wave of Light, Field of Sound (For John Cage)- Originally created for Black Mountain College’s 2024 ReHappening Festival.
I couldn't thank him enough for wearing that shirt.
The interactive sound installation consisted of 12 portable solar powered AM/ FM radios arranged in a large circle with their speakers facing one another. Each of the radios was tuned to local Asheville frequency - creating a multichannel, multidirectional sound collage. The experience was constantly in flux, with different forms of audio synthesis occurring based on where the listener positioned themselves within the circle.
The “one dimensional” (cultural/ political) perspectives presented by the majority of contemporary radio became “three dimensional” in real time. Signals crossed, dialogue contradicted, and sounds blended with each other in a newly energized way.
The installation ran entirely run on solar power. The radios stored energy from the sun during the day, and broadcasted into the night for as long as their charge allowed. Inspired by John Cage, the duration and audio content of the piece was determined by chance factors. Local broadcasting schedules, available sunlight, and the mercurial nature of lo-fi technology all shaped the final experience. When the radios all fell silent in the early hours of the morning the piece will concluded; and formed another fitting tribute to Cage’s perhaps most famous composition: 4’33.
After the event, the radios and buckets were donated to the local Asheville grassroots organization BeLoved who had enthusiastically agreed to distribute them to local unhoused people.
BeLoved Asheville is a trusted, grassroots, and equity-focused organization. With over fifteen years of experience in movement building and advocacy for human rights, the organization’s success is credited to the ability to build relationships, create visible change, and generate community-led momentum for collective action.
BONUS: Here are two additional audio recordings from other stagings of the piece. One in Long Beach, California on 4/16/24 at 5:24 PM; and the other in Downtown LA on 7/9/25 a7 7:46pm.
Member discussion