THE ENORMOUS RADIO
What if we could tune into the non-human, the endangered and the wild? What might they say and is this a good idea? As acoustic ecologists harness the power of digital technologies and machine learning to bring us ever closer to the possibility of ‘speaking with animals’, THE ENORMOUS RADIO ponders the wonder and terror of this new frontier.
The Enormous Radio is a documentary-inspired immersive audio concept. The work’s key source material draws on Australian wildlife field recordings, voice enhancement & translation software, obsolete radio technology and the history of techno-spiritualism. The experience is comprised of six haunted transmissions from the animal world, each featuring the signature calls of a different species, which the radios attempt to tune into and decode. The ‘animal translations’ that emerge were generated by feeding field recordings into readily available voice enhancement software and instructing the program to identify spoken-English words. The resulting uncanny ‘found texts’ are literally what the machine heard.
The Enormous Radio takes the form of an imposing 360-degree audio-hive; a ring of obsolete radios with crackling speakers, glowing panels and twitchy knobs – as well as an unseen surround-speaker system beyond the circle – allowing a ghostly audio-score to dramatically swirl, expand and contract around us. The work is suited to a gallery space, black-box studio or evocative found site. The audience experience takes the form of six haunted animal transmissions. It runs for 45mins and is designed to run hourly on rotation.
This ambitious concept has been developed with support from FRAME DocLab, Bundanon Artist Residency, Creative Australia, Abbotsford Convent Foundation, Melbourne Fringe Festival and The Substation & Chamber Made’s 2026 Voltage commission. Essential to our forward planning is a desire to connect with presenters interested in unique immersive experiences, machine-learning and climate-responsive themes.
CREATIVE TEAM
Director/concept: Roslyn Oades
Sound artist/co-creator: Bob Scott
Production & Lighting Design: Jenny Hector
Text Dramaturg & Stills: Sarah Walker
Technology Design: Kevan Atkins
Lighting Programmer: Matt Milne
Technicians: Sam King, Kurt Medenbach & Michelle Nguyen
Prototype design & tech consultant: Bob Jarvis (Zeal.co)
Production Management: Option 2 Design & Management
Produced by: Chamber Made
Prototype Co-presented by: The Substation, Chamber Made & Melbourne Fringe
Video documentation: Angus Kemp
Project mentor: Helgard Haug (Rimini Protokoll)
Field recordists: Marc Andersen, Peter Albrechtsen, Howard Plowright, David Magrath, Dr Brian Millar, Dr Nigel Jackett, Andrew Skeoch & Fred van Gessel
PRoject ENQUIRIES
Please direct initial enquiries to project director, Roslyn Oades>>
PRESENTATION HISTORY
2026: Prototype Season, The Substation, Melbourne Fringe
AWARDS
WINNER - Melbourne Fringe Festival: Best in Experimental
WINNER - Melbourne Fringe Festival: Sound & Technical Excellence
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to: Steven Rendall, valve radio expert Bert Steven’s, the Australian Wildlife Sound Recording Group, the Australian Antarctic Division and all the field recordists who have allowed us to feature their beautiful wildlife recordings in this work. The Enormous Radio has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, FRAME DOCUMENTARY & VicScreen, Bundanon, Voltage (Substation & Chamber Made initiative), Robert Salzer Foundation, Abbotsford Convent Foundation and Melbourne Fringe Festival.
