Radius 18: Imaginary Forces’ CT Room (43:01) :: Continuously looped for a three hour period on December 20, 21, 27 and 28 at 4:00 pm CST.

CT Room is a collage of field recordings taken from various online video chat rooms and instant messenger services. In many of the recordings, the subjects that chose to type responses instead of speak, were unaware that they had left their computer microphones on. In some of these cases, the computer was left on even after the person had stopped chatting. Hart was able to record the sounds of these seemingly empty spaces and the personal conversations that would take place outside the designated chat space.

The compiled recorded sounds have been processed only minimally and arranged into a compositional structure. All sounds used are as recorded, complete with defects due to bit rate/streaming. Once arranged apart from the accompanying visual aspects, the sounds become abstracted from their original context and open up to interpretation. The sounds take on a sinister tone and speak to a certain kind of panopticism; a voyeurism where those being watched are perhaps only subconsciously aware that they are potentially being observed by someone else.

Imaginary Forces (Anthoney J Hart, b. Hastings, England 1979) is a London-based electronic music composer. His electronic music trends towards noise music, and is often self released. His music is also released on the label Ohm Resistance and his own label, Sleep Codes. Hart’s early electronic dance music have now moved into a more freeform abstract compositional structure drawing heavily from the early electronic masters as well as literary references, most notably J G Ballard. Using an innovative approach he reduces electronic music to its component elements, deconstructing it, and turning it into something far more challenging.

Alternative versions of CT Room are available on CDr here.

Radius is an experimental radio broadcast platform based in Chicago, IL, USA. The goal is to support work that engages the tonal and public spaces of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Radius features a new project semi-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.