Dr. Klangendum

1. A passage (2023) – Jake Caleb.
Audio recording [20:38].
A passage is an audio work by artist Jake Caleb investigating the suppression of certain
narratives within society, especially those pertaining to migration and grief. The work follows a ‘pilgrimage’ the artist made earlier this year to Allahabad, India to trace the history of his ancestor, a priest of Indian descent. This journey was sparked by the death of the artist’s father due to Covid-19 in 2021.
Caleb found the grief caused by his father’s death difficult to translate into words with large parts of it remaining unspoken. Following the easing of restrictions he perceived a silence surrounding the pandemic, encountering a public unwillingness to acknowledge its events within the collective memory. While unearthing his family’s complex relationship to their Indian ancestry, Caleb saw similarities in the way particular narratives are silenced or forgotten. Both his father’s death and his family’s migration story seemed conditioned by societal notions dictating what can and can’t be spoken publicly. However, when given the space to discuss both grief and assimilation, he came across a lack of words to adequately describe them. In this paradoxical situation, he found
himself questioning the difference between what is left unsaid and what is beyond words.

The sound piece is followed by an abridged interview with the artist and Hedvig Koertz recorded during the exhibition A passage at an other world, Rotterdam in November 2023.
Image: Ceramic ear in Banyan tree, artist unknown (2023) – Jake Caleb.

Order of recordings:
Frog calls, Shantiniketan.
Sitar lesson International Music Centre Ashram, Varanasi.
Traffic noise, New Delhi.
Evening Aarti, Varanasi.
Dawn chorus, Bodhgaya.
Pontoon over Ganges, Allahabad/Prayagraj.
Buddhist pilgrim’s chant, Bodhgaya.
Sound and light show soundcheck, New Delhi.
Train station platform, Agra.
Sound and light show show, Khajuraho.
Outside Katra church, Allahabad/Prayagraj.
Katra church service sermon, Allahabad/Prayagraj.
Wedding drumming, Khajuraho.
Sleeper train to Allahabad/Prayagraj.
Katra church service hymn, Allahabad/Prayagraj.
Fajr prayer, Kolkata.
Sitar lesson International Music Centre Ashram, Varanasi.
Frog calls, Shantiniketan.

(Produced for Worm)

2.  Coming up for air.
by Vienna Radia Collective feat. Stefan Nussbaumer

Oops, something has happened! The microphone fell into the water. Quel Malheur! Thank goodness our special guest Stefan Nussbaumer shrink-wrapped the microphones and nothing happened to them. So, by chance and without intention, exciting worlds of sound opened up that we don’t want to deprive you of. Have a nice summer! (… and happy winter to Sally & Jon!)
(Produced for Radia)