Megapolis Festival
Encyclopedia
The MEGAPOLIS Audio Festival is a weekend-long festival dedicated to the craft of do-it-yourself (DIY) audio creation. The mission of MEGAPOLIS is to provide a forum for artists, documentarians, musicians, and fans to come together to share secrets on producing and presenting challenging audio works online, on-air, and on the stage. The Festival aims to provide an affordable way for people of all ages to educate each other via experimentation with new ideas and formats.
The Festival was founded by Nick van der Kolk (Artistic Director) and Justin Grotelueschen (Managing Director).
The name Megapolis is a variation of megalopolis
, referring specifically to the Northeast megalopolis
of the United States, and the cultural influences such an urban environment has on the soundscape.
, Massachusetts starting on April 24, 2009 at the Massasoit Elks Lodge and continuing April 25 and 26 at the Pierre Menard Gallery. Featured events included:
Over 40 artists from across North America and from countries beyond combined with local artists to perform, install works, and conduct workshops and tours including:
Co-sponsored Festival events included a Media Archeology of Boston at the Carpenter Center at Harvard University
, a live cello score of a museum construction at the Axiom Gallery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and a live performance of the WNYC
science program Radio Lab
at the Museum of Science in Boston
.
, Maryland starting on May 14 at the Windup Space and continued May 15 and 16 starting at the Hexagon Space. The 2010 event featured several high-profile artists including:
Over 60 artists from across North America and from countries beyond combined with local artists to perform, install works, and conduct workshops and tours including:
The Festival was founded by Nick van der Kolk (Artistic Director) and Justin Grotelueschen (Managing Director).
The name Megapolis is a variation of megalopolis
Megalopolis (city type)
A megalopolis is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. The term was used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book, The Decline of the West, and Lewis Mumford in his 1938 book, The Culture of Cities, which described it as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and...
, referring specifically to the Northeast megalopolis
Northeast megalopolis
The Northeast megalopolis or Boston–Washington megalopolis is the heavily urbanized area of the United States stretching from the the northern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts to the southern suburbs of Washington, D.C. On a map, the region appears almost as a perfectly straight line. As of 2000,...
of the United States, and the cultural influences such an urban environment has on the soundscape.
2009
The inaugural MEGAPOLIS Festival occurred in CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Massachusetts starting on April 24, 2009 at the Massasoit Elks Lodge and continuing April 25 and 26 at the Pierre Menard Gallery. Featured events included:
- A performance by Gregory WhiteheadGregory WhiteheadGregory Whitehead Gregory Whitehead Gregory Whitehead ((Nantucket, MA) is a writer, radiomaker and audio artist based in Lenox, Massachusetts.-Work:Allen S. Weiss considers him to be a major international figure in the fields of audio and radio art, from the 1980s to the present....
, radio theatre legend - An audio documentary listening room from the Third Coast Audio Festival
- An opening night of intense musics led by The Lothars, theremin-infused psych rock from Boston, along with a typewriter orchestra, a man manipulating the radio waves with a steering wheel, and a demonstration of culinary auditory delights
Over 40 artists from across North America and from countries beyond combined with local artists to perform, install works, and conduct workshops and tours including:
- workshops for building your own instruments and contact microphones
- an audio-making slumber party
- a bicycle-powered 8-track player
- a clandestine audio tour of an insane asylum
- a presentation on the cross-pollination of poetry and sound
Co-sponsored Festival events included a Media Archeology of Boston at the Carpenter Center at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, a live cello score of a museum construction at the Axiom Gallery in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, and a live performance of the WNYC
WNYC
WNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...
science program Radio Lab
Radio Lab
Radiolab is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast....
at the Museum of Science in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
2010
The second Festival occurred in BaltimoreBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland starting on May 14 at the Windup Space and continued May 15 and 16 starting at the Hexagon Space. The 2010 event featured several high-profile artists including:
- Felix KubinFelix KubinFelix Kubin is an electronic musician. He has been involved with music since he was 8 years old, when he studied piano, organ and glockenspiel. His youthful experiments really took off in 1980 when he got a Korg MS-20 synthesizer. His early works have been released under the title The Tetchy...
, sci-fi music and radio visionary from Germany - Lucky DragonsLucky DragonsLucky Dragons is an experimental music group consisting of Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara. Based in Los Angeles, California, the band are noted for their unusual sound, described as having the ability to make "'everyday sounds' become alluringly other"....
, psychadelic electronic artists from Los Angeles - David KestenbaumDavid KestenbaumDavid Kestenbaum is an American radio correspondent for National Public Radio. He generally covers science, energy, and economic issues.-References:...
, science and economics correspondent for NPR
Over 60 artists from across North America and from countries beyond combined with local artists to perform, install works, and conduct workshops and tours including:
- audio scavenger hunts with iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
s and low-wattage transmitters - collaborative sound-making performances using contact mics attached to parachutes and knitting needles
- 1-800-numbers that attendees could call that dealt out exercises and suggestions designed to elicit aural experiences
- booths where participants could retell their nightmares and strain to hear to tiny sounds
- existentialist theatrical tours led by gnomes who encounter deviant characters along a path to 'enlightenment'
- audio transmissions between live-mic'd venues using FM and shortwave radio