Disinformation "Stargate" - recording of "Type 2" solar noise storm released as the title track to the Disinformation "Stargate" LP (published by Ash International in 1996) which recently featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme "Broadcasting House". The audible phenomenon is produced by Coronal Mass Ejections - plasma bursts on the surface of the sun, associated with sunpots and solar flares, which excite radio-emissions that manifest on terrestrial shortwave radio. Depending on the polarity of the solar wind, the interaction between a Coronal Mass Ejection and the earth's magnetic field may produce magnetic storms, which trigger auroral displays, lightning and the release of natural VLF band radio "whistlers", and disrupt electricity supplies and communications networks etc. In this way, the "Stargate" project is closely related to Disinformation's "Ghost Shells" (VLF whistler recordings) and "National Grid" (recordings of invisible electromagnetic interference fields radiated by live mains electricity) both of which were also released on LP in 1996 (and re-issued as CD tracks in 1997). The highest profile exhibition of the original Disinformation recordings was at Kiasma art museum in Helsinki.
"While solar flares either dissipate in space or are drawn back to the surface of the sun, plasma shock-waves surge outward, increasing the velocity of the solar wind. On impact the earth's magnetosphere warps like a tennis ball being hit with a hammer. Powerlines blow as DC transients induce in AC grids and submarine cables: ionospheric disruption distorts or obliterates radio communications, GPS reception and TV: satellites malfunction and drift off course: impulses in astronauts' nerves misfire: aurora intensify in the sky: VLF whistlers echo across the nightside of the globe: it has even been argued that electrical accumulations in the metal structures of gas-pipelines and petrochemicals storage have caused explosions claiming hundreds of lives. While this coronal mass ejection may take anything from 6 to 40 hours to reach earth, its emergence through the upper layers of the sun's atmosphere 'rattles' local plasma exciting a radio emission which reaches earth at the speed of light."
Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) were (non-contributing) artists in residence during the first Disinformation solo exhibition at Fabrica gallery (Brighton) in 2001, 5 years after the release of the "Stargate" LP. Ten years after that original release, Disinformation received a cash advance from Semiconductor for the use of "Stargate" as a soundtrack to a Semiconductor video installation called "Brilliant Noise" (released on DVD by Fatcat Records). Upon completion, Joe Gerhardt point blank refused to inform Disinformation about any exhibitions of the collaborative work. As a result of his refusal, a decision not to make this material available on-line has been reversed, in order to give more publicity to the historic precedent (and the other similarities between Semiconductor projects and themes Disinformation explored years earlier aren't co-incidental either). The "Stargate" radio recordings are published by Touch Music and copyright Disinformation, however none of the footage of solar flares and sunspot activity etc used in "Brilliant Noise" was produced by Semiconductor, as products of US government employees, according to US copyright law, these images are therefore public domain, and dozens of these kinds of videos are already available on You Tube. Unlike virtually all art-science projects that since explored similar imagery, the recording of the original "Stargate" LP was a literally no-budget, totally DIY project - realised with miniscule resources, using entirely borrowed equipment, without any institutional support or funding, and without any help from professional scientists.
http://www.lecturelist.org/content/view_lecture/3730
"Stargate" has been exhibited at Kiasma (Helsinki), at Event Gallery and at The Foundry (London), and recently presented at the Open Ear event at Canterbury Christ Church University, at Another Roadside Attraction and at Goldsmiths College in London. Details the original "Stargate" / "National Grid" LP can be found at http://www.discogs.com/release/66465
A sample of the original Disinformation release can also be heard at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkRng7GZKk
The Semiconductor / Fatcat DVD also features contributions from Max Richter, The Twilight Sad, Christian Vogel, Ensemble, Robert Hampson, Iris Garrelfs, Antenna Farm, Our Brother the Native, Gaeoudjiparl and Thomas Dimuzio.
The new 35mm cinema version of a Disinformation project called "Fire in the Eye" (commissioned by Threshold Studios for The Arts Council of England) premieres at The Edinburgh International Film Festival on Saturday 21 June (the first still-image version of "Fire in the Eye" was made in 2004 and first exhibited at Wrexham Arts Centre in 2006) - details from http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk
Tags: Arnolfini Bristol Kiasma Fatcat Records SightSonic Fabrica Solar Flare Dana Centre Arts Catalyst Jade Hamilton Noise
