RAJAR
2003-2004
Live radio collage and performances.
RAJAR is Bob Boster, Xopher Davidson, Michael Gendreau, David Kwan and Patty Liu.
RAJAR focuses on real-time processing of live radio transmissions to shape the musical potential of fleeting signals and static interruptions. Each performance is a unique experience as a result of the differing radio reception at each location and the program material available on air during any given moment. RAJAR was founded in 2003 as part of the Illegal Art: Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age exhibition in San Francisco, based on the idea of extending the use of appropriation in art practices to include real-time scanning and processing of live radio transmissions. While this idea has links to a wide range of musical thinkers, including John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Holger Czukay and others, RAJAR updates this approach to represent the current spectrum of electronic music practice. Tactics include a wide range of technologies, from lo-tech stomp boxes and outboard gear to DSP schemes deployed on laptops, or no processing at all.
An album of recorded live performances is available here.
