Ansible Realm Connector

Ansible Realm Connector was a tele-performance of the ANANSI Revolutionary Collective. The performance was the result of the Wave Farm Transmission Arts Residency and featured a live broadcast on Wave Farm’s FM and internet WGXC radio stations as well as an in-person performance at the Wave Farm’s Acra, NY space. The piece was an innovative live docu-fictional radio play and Arkestral tele-performance that unfolded the narrative of the (fictional) inter-dimensional ansible, I.D.A., and the genesis of the (real) ANANSI Revolutionary Collective. Envisioned as a global collaboration, musicians, sound artists, and writers it synchronized from diverse locations using low-latency audio transfer technology. This interdisciplinary telematic performance transcended physical distances, creating a shared experience for a global audience. SUNJIR0 anchored the project on-site at Wave Farm while connected with artists in Nairobi, Kenya and Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The collective received the Rising Tide award “which [provided] additional financial support to an applicant with a multidimensional life and background whose work is rooted in process, to further the pursuit of new ideas, experiments, and uncertainties.” Additionally, as a part of the residency, SUNJIR0 had a live radio set and performance on WGXC.

History[edit]

Preparation[edit]

Kadallah Burrowes applied and interviewed for the Wave Farm Transmission Arts Residency on behalf of the collective.

In October 2024, they stayed at the Wave Farm campus in Acra, NY for 10 days, where they coordinated rehearsals and Confluxes for composing music, live improvisational jamming, and more down-to-earth conversations to talk about the narrative framing of the work and division of responsibilities. For the musical Confluxes, the collective experimented with Muse Sessions and SonoBus as tools for live tele-performance.

Leading up to the performance, they performed poetry and shared their past music releases on WGXC on October 2nd to encourage people to come attend the show in person.

Performance[edit]

The performance took place on October 5th. SUNJIR0 performed live in person at the Wave Farm campus in Acra, NY. They were connected to members of the ANANSI Revolutionary Collective in Nairobi, who all performed from Ondieki’s studio. Phantom Wizard also joined the performance from Amsterdam.

The performance was a trans-disciplinary, with music, fiction, and poetry interspersed. The performance began with a short expository statement about what the ANANSI Revolutionary Collective and the Ansible Realm Connector are, before SUNJIR0 lead a meditation to help energetically align the various locations people were performing and tuning in from. What followed were live improvisational music performances with people jamming together in real time across three locations, and spoken word poetry.

For the final tele-performance, the collective used SonoBus as the technical backbone.

People[edit]

Members[edit]

Kadallah Burrowes / SUNJIR0 - Catalyst, Performer

Ondieki - Performer, Technical Support, Studio Space

Ndung’u Mbithi - Performer

Nabalayo - Performer

Jabez - Technical Support

NDIBØ - Performer

Phantom Wizard - Performer

Emma - Social Support

Partner Organizations[edit]

Wave Farm - Partner

LoVid - Rising Tide Award Sponsor

Resources[edit]

The total incoming funds associated with this project were $2,900 USD. The Wave Farm residency provided $2,500USD through a combination of the base fee ($1,000USD) intended for travel and cost of living, and the additional Rising Tide Award ($1,500USD) only awarded to one resident (cohort); the latter $400USD was an honorarium from Cornell for the Soil Factory Residency that took place around the same time. The budgeting around this project was also complicated by the funds that were distributed from the Global Leadership Fund project that took place around the same time. For sake of simplicity, the Global Leadership Fund alterations are not accounted for here.

The final payment breakdown was:

$1000 USD - Kadallah
$250 USD - Ondieki
$200 USD - Phantom Wizard
$200 USD - Nabalayo
$150 USD - NDIB0
$150 USD - Ndung’u
$100 USD - Jabez
$100 USD - Jay Jay
$100 USD - Emma
$550 USD - Commons
$100 USD - As needed reimbursements

Praxis[edit]

Conflux[edit]

This project utilized the Conflux method in many ways. The performance itself can be considered a Conscendo, or live Conflux session focused on tele-performance rather than tele-production. This is particularly true for the live improvisational sections of the performance.

Musically, members of the collective also used Conflux techniques to collaboratively create tracks and sections of the performance, including pieces where spoken word artists partnered with musicians to create multi-disciplinary duets.

Members of the collective also gathered for world building sessions where performers discussed and designed a narrative framing for the work and co-created fictional advertisements from this alternate world.

For the musical Confluxes, we originally spent a lot of time exploring Muse Sessions as a method for connecting people, but ultimately used SonoBus for the final performance.

Budget[edit]

The collective bundled the funds from this project and funds received from the Soil Factory residency to help pay folks a bit more for their contributions. There was also some fluidity of funds between this project and the Global Leadership Fund performance. The collective used the standard collective budgeting practice to allocate the funds.

Gallery[edit]

All photos courtesy of Lucy Bohnsack Photography and Wave Farm (Acra, NY).