Sabisha Friedberg: The Starry Garter
On April 1, 2011, the Clocktower presented The Starry Garter: A Certain Point Within A Sphere by audio artist and composer Sabisha Friedberg. The event was held in front of a studio audience at the Clocktower Gallery and was streamcast live to the Web through ARTonAIR.org.
Composed during her residency at the Clocktower Gallery, The Starry Garter is a sonic poem for radio that combines elements of sound art, radio theater, film, and music to examine themes of transmutation and redemption. Friedberg’s work is based on Etidorhpa, or, the end of the earth: the strange history of a mysterious being and the account of a remarkable journey, the tale of an unknown man’s quest into the center of the earth, which divulges arcane secrets in a process of initiation, and reveals a journey to an ethereal plane of non-material existence. Following Etidorhpa’s narrative arc, Starry Garter updates traditional radio theater by emphasizing the text’s sonic elements with atomized dialog, an electro-acoustic process, and interludes of acoustic cello, piano, and chorus. The live performance of The Starry Garter transforms this 19th Century hermetic tale into an aural soundscape further textured by effects generated by vintage foley work (old-fashioned, handmade radio sound effects).
Radio Actors:
Richard Kohn, I AM THE MAN
Toby Wherry, John Uri Lloyd, Captor 1
Gus Weinstein, Guide 1
David Cohen, Llewellyn Drury, Captor 2, Guide 2
Music / Sound:
Sabisha Friedberg, musique concrete/tape music
Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor
Evan Hughes, bass-baritone
Nina Berman, soprano
Gregory Spears, keyboard / composer
Meaghan Burke, cello / composer
Theodore Robinson & Robin Shore foley
Special thanks to Scott Konzelmann (Chop Shop) for analog tape prep, equipment resource, and additional sound support. To Kelley Brower and Lana Bernberg for editing the script. To Justin Marchi, who served as Friedberg's intern for the project. Additional thanks to Larry 7, Hank Hivnor, and Andy Sway.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Clocktower Exhibits & Events
RADIO SERIES
Clocktower Exhibits & Events is home to an archive of interviews with artists, curators, musicians, organizers, and more who have participated in Clocktower exhibitions and events throughout our organization’s history.
Many of the below recordings were documented while Clocktower was in the midst of a transformation. The original name, The Clocktower Gallery, was given to the exhibition, residency, and performance space in TriBeCa, founded by alternative spaces movement pioneer Alanna Heiss in 1972. After 2001, the Clocktower Gallery re-inaugurated its exhibition programming in 2005 as part of MoMA/PS1 and, after 2008, under the auspices of Art International Radio. In 2013, we moved on from our downtown Manhattan location, and have since renamed the organization Clocktower Productions, a title which encompasses our radio, exhibition, and event programming.
For more Clocktower history, listen to The Clocktower Oral History Project, in which such figures as Vito Acconci, Bill Beirne, Colette, Jeffrey Deitch, Mary Heilmann, Jene Highstein, Ann Magnuson, Richard Nonas and Joel Shapiro reflect upon their experiences with this unique New York space. Organized by artist Nancy Hwang for the Fall 2009 AVANT-GUIDE TO NYC: Discovering Absence exhibition at apexart.
NB: Clocktower Radio was launched by MoMA/PS1 in 2004 as the Web's first art radio station. It has been independent since 2009 and is licensed to host content created under PS1 management. Programs produced prior to 2011 may refer to our earlier URLs and station IDs, including WPS1.org, artonair.org, and Art International Radio. For the complete history of Clocktower Radio, read our Mission & History section.
more Many of the below recordings were documented while Clocktower was in the midst of a transformation. The original name, The Clocktower Gallery, was given to the exhibition, residency, and performance space in TriBeCa, founded by alternative spaces movement pioneer Alanna Heiss in 1972. After 2001, the Clocktower Gallery re-inaugurated its exhibition programming in 2005 as part of MoMA/PS1 and, after 2008, under the auspices of Art International Radio. In 2013, we moved on from our downtown Manhattan location, and have since renamed the organization Clocktower Productions, a title which encompasses our radio, exhibition, and event programming.
For more Clocktower history, listen to The Clocktower Oral History Project, in which such figures as Vito Acconci, Bill Beirne, Colette, Jeffrey Deitch, Mary Heilmann, Jene Highstein, Ann Magnuson, Richard Nonas and Joel Shapiro reflect upon their experiences with this unique New York space. Organized by artist Nancy Hwang for the Fall 2009 AVANT-GUIDE TO NYC: Discovering Absence exhibition at apexart.
NB: Clocktower Radio was launched by MoMA/PS1 in 2004 as the Web's first art radio station. It has been independent since 2009 and is licensed to host content created under PS1 management. Programs produced prior to 2011 may refer to our earlier URLs and station IDs, including WPS1.org, artonair.org, and Art International Radio. For the complete history of Clocktower Radio, read our Mission & History section.
