This collage technique draws on the long rich history of found footage in experimental film, while the industrial electronic soundtrack is a nod to the work of David Tibet’s group Coil and their collaborations with Derek Jarman. Richards also explicitly echoes Jarman’s formal visual strategies such as the use of inverted colour palettes, as well as a similar sense of musical rhythm and modulation.

Radio at Night realises this musical rhythm and modulation by blending  fragments of found sound, foley effects and field recordings with harmonious passages sung by the female vocal ensemble, Vocal Juice. Here the trio sing a repeated refrain from a poem by American  activist, and poet Judy Grahn.

Radio at Night is particularly preoccupied with the act of seeing and the ways technology makes this sensation mechanical. Looking at this juxtaposition through the lenses of the 2020/2021 “now”, where we have been driven to exclusively see and sense via technology, this tension seems significantly relevant.

Radio at Night (2015)
James Richards
HD video
Duration: 8:00

Courtesy the artist, Cabinet, London, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin, Rodeo, London/Piraeus.