Crystal Radio Garments

RESEARCH BACKGROUND: Substation director and curator Will Foster selected 'Crystal Radio Garments' for exhibition as part of the Substation Contemporary Art Prize 2013, a national non-acquisitive $10,000 art prize. 'Crystal Radio' consists of three garments that can be worn by visitors to the gallery. Each garment contains an embedded crystal radio set constructed from simple components including copper wire, aluminium foil and baking paper. These radios are tuned by the wearer's body and pick up a wide variety of signals including local AM stations and electromagnetic radiation from building services and the nearby rail line. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: 'Crystal Radio Garments' explored the radio spectrum as a spatially-distributed medium with site-specific qualities. The work builds on amateur radio construction that was previously explored by the artist in 'P2P FM' (Blindside Gallery, 2009) and is influenced by A. Dune and F. Raby's work on design and the electromagnetic spectrum ('Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects', 2002). RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: Crystal Radio Garments achieved peer review by being one of 50 finalists, from a field of 600 entries, selected for exhibition at the Substation, a prominent public gallery in Newport, Melbourne. The Substation and The Substation Contemporary Art Prize is supported by Metro trains, Hobsons Bay City Council, Besen Family Foundation, Lord Mayor's Charitable Fund and Arts Victoria. The 2013 award was judged by Geraldine Barlow, Chief Curator, Monash University Museum of Art (MUMA) and Rachel Kent, Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia (MCA). The exhibition was covered by The Age (Dylan Rainforth, 'Around the Galleries', 16 Oct 2013), in 3 local newspapers, including ('What's On', Hobsons Bay Leader, 29 Oct 2013), in 'Art Collector' magazine and ArtsHub website.