AV Festival 08: Broadcast
The theme of the festival in 2008 was broadcast. The UK began to switch off analogue television signals in 2007-2008, paving the way for television to become entirely digital. At the same time the internet and mobile networks have created opportunities for us to 'broadcast ourselves' in entirely new ways. As the landscape of broadcasting changes irrevocably, AV Festival 08 created a catalyst for debate about the future of broadcasting, and acted as an event to celebrate a century of on-air and online transmission.
The programme included over 75 projects, which manifested as over 100 events, featuring artists such as Marko Peljhan, Staalplaat Sound System, Marcus Coates, Resonance FM, Chris Watson, Harun Farocki, Tetsuo Kogawa, Autechre, Joyce Hinterding, Yuko Mohri, Van Gogh TV, Active Ingredient, Jean-Jacques Perrey, People Like Us and many others.
Highlights included recreations of John Cage's iconic 1966 performance Variations VII performed by :zoviet*france:, Matt Wand & Atau Tanaka and the famous 1938 radio play, War of the Worlds, rewritten and directed by Joanna Read and performed at Middlesbrough Town Hall. AV Festival 08 had audiences of over 100,000 including visitors to events, online and through it's on air radio stations.
Commissions and Premieres
AV Festival 2008 commissioned 14 new works, presented 2 world premieres and 2 UK premieres.
- A Marriage of Shadows - Michael Edgerton (World Premiere)
- Aeriology - Joyce Hinterding (UK Premiere)
- Atlas of Electromagnetic Space - (Co-commission)
- AV Festival on Ne1FM - (Commission)
- Bairdcast: A History of Machine translation - Yuko Mohri (Commission)
- Broadcast Yourself - Various artists (Co-commission)
- Deep Play - Harun Farocki (UK Premiere)
- Now Hear This - Marcus Coates, Zoe Irvine & People Like Us (3 Commissions)
- Radiophonia - Broadcast, Dick Mills, Jean-Jacques Perrey et al (World Premiere)
- Resonance FM at mima - (Commission)
- Scatter! - Marko Peljhan (Commission)
- Soundscape FM - (Commission)
- Variations VII - :zoviet*france, Atau Tanaka, Matt Wand (Commission)
- War of the Worlds - directed by Joanna Read (Commission)
- Waygood's Amateur radio rally - (Co-commission)
- Whispering in the Leaves - Chris Watson (Co-commission)