Eran Schaerf – fm-scenario

The voice of the listener on the Internet, in an exhibition and on the radio

This intermedial project is based on Eran Schaerf’s radio plays, in particular Die Stimme des Hörers (2002), based on a fictitious radio station which takes listeners’ calls. Unlike classical call-in radio shows, however, there is no dialogue between the listeners and the radio DJ. Instead, the calls are taken and answered by a computer programme.
The project fm-scenario expands on this automatized dialogue. On a website, users can access reports, features, stories and other audio modules and interactively produce a news mix. The final mix will then be broadcast by the Bayerischer Rundfunk in its radio play programme. It will also serve as the basis for an exhibition and publication which will translate the mix of news reports, call-ins and stories into a spatial and visual narrative format. Exhibitions are planned at five locations in Germany and Switzerland, featuring five separately produced mixes.
fm-scenario blurs the boundaries between news reporting and fiction. Our image of reality – as depicted in the world of news – is questionable when viewed critically. This project playfully presents media-critical models ranging from participative radio programmes to social networks. In the fictional scenario, the traditional roles of broadcaster and receiver, or news reporter and radio listener are dismantled. The possibilities and limits of automatized communication remind us that every concept of the world is influenced by special interests and power and is caught in a web of truth, reality, representation and fabrication.

Artistic directors: Joerg Franzbecker, Herbert Kapfer
Curators: Inke Arns, Rasmus Kleine, Margit Rosen, Valerie Smith (US), Andrea Thal (CH), Artist: Eran Schaerf

Broadcasting schedule: Bayerischer Rundfunk, 14 Sept. 2012, 25 Jan. 2013, 5 Apr. 2013, 13 Sept. 2013, 10 Jan. 2014

Exhibition:
Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, 14 Sept. - 11 Nov. 2012
Karlsruhe, ZKM, 25 Jan. - 7 Apr. 2013
Dortmund, Hardware Medienkunstverein, 5 Apr. - 16 Jun. 2013
Ingolstadt, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, 13 Sept. - 10 Nov. 2013
Zürich, Les Complices, 10 Jan. - 23 Feb. 2014