DIAL
a durational writing, performance, recording and publication project
(2021 - ongoing)
About DIAL
DIAL is a durational-procedural work of poetic prose composed under a specific process: each single day across the entire calendar year 2021 I produced a short piece of writing through real-time, automatic transcription of spoken language from a different radio station broadcasting anywhere in the world, and linked these pieces seamlessly with equally short pieces of ‘original’ writing composed contemporaneously. The radio station accessed each day depended on the previous day’s text, and was determined by entering keywords from it as search terms on the TuneIn platform. The full manuscript runs to a little over 120,000 words, and it is divided into 12 chapters corresponding to a calendar month each, arranged as uninterrupted blocks of text.
The composition of DIAL was enabled by the award of an inaugural PLATFORM31 Bursary from the Association of Local Authority Arts Officers (ALA:AO) in collaboration with The Arts Council of Ireland in 2021.
Performance, Recording and Publication
Diatribe Records – Ireland’s leading independent record label for new music – has been working with me towards an ongoing durational treatment of DIAL which translates this work back into sound through a series of collaborative live performances and radio broadcasts, and a forthcoming multimedia release.
Beginning with the hourlong performance from Chapter 12: December broadcast live on Dublin Digital Radio on 7 December 2024, twelve 60-minute semi-improvised collaborative performances from DIAL – with my spoken text accompanied by sonic interventions from Keith Lindsay, Joanna Mattrey and Nick Roth featuring saxophone, viola, electronics, live radio feedback & looped sounds – are projected take place intermittently over the next while, one corresponding to each chapter / calendar month.
The audio recordings of these performances and studio recordings are set to be collected into a Diatribe Records catalogue release. These will be accompanied by a 14-hour ‘audiobook’ version of the work (which was recorded over several sessions across 2024 with generous support from The Arts Council of Ireland) and a print edition of the text.
For more information, performance bookings, commission requests, publication or other queries, get in touch via the email address on the left hand side menu.
DIAL (Chapter 12: December)
Broadcast live on Dublin Digital Radio, 7 December 2024
DIAL (Chapter 5: May)
Performed at Kirkos, Dublin 7, 1 May 2025
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DIAL (Chapter 6: June)
A quadraphonic performance with audience participation @ St John's Theatre & Arts Centre, Listowel, Co Kerry, 1 June 2024
DIAL (Chapter 1: January)
A solo performance (including impromptu outro collaboration with Nick Dunston) @ The Record Shop, Brooklyn, New York, 11 January 2025
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