John Osorio-Buck, AIR 2003

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 

The Bewick Research Institute is pleased to host John Osorio-Buck as our Artist in Research through August 9th. During his residency Buck will be broadcasting from a 1-Watt radio transmitter, mapping the patterns of bees, and studying urban planning. These seemingly diffuse elements interconnect thematically through an epicenter of a 1-mile radius; the distance a honeybee will go to gather pollen and nectar, the expanse 1-Watt will power a radio wave, and the circumference of Dudley Square, where the Berwick resides.

Buck’s examination of hierarchical systems and their subversion has driven this project and he wants to include the residents, artists and business owners of Dudley Square as catalysts. Anyone can broadcast on WRFR 87.5 on the FM dial. Make an appointment, or send copy to the above address. Radios will be stationed in Dudley Square where they will continuously broadcast everything from call in shows to sound art, as well as local announcements for Berwick events. John’s interest in radio, bee keeping and urban planning results in a multifaceted way of seeing an urban space as the grounds for private, public and civic projects. “Radio transmission collapses space, something said or broadcasted at a great distance instantly becomes intimate… In many ways radio also reflects architecture, paralleling the spatial zones of the intimate, personal and the social”.

The honeybee’s industry and civic mindedness adds a parallel dimension to the project. Bees infiltrate the city streets and lots to gather their sustenance, which they use to build their own municipality. A honeybee’s range for gathering pollen and nectar mirrors the range of the radio waves that reach out into the neighborhood. Buck writes “All three elements, beekeeping, urban planning, and pirate radio, explore the issues between design and function, the coding and decoding of relevant information, and the process of transition and maintenance within a particular range.” John’s project has the capacity to express both personal interaction, through his own exploration and observation of Dudley Square, and social interaction, by inviting the local community to participate in the realization of a local radio station.