The Hot Cells of the Joint Research Center of the European Commission in Karlsruhe (JRC) turn 60! This means 60 years of nuclear research in the so-called Hot Cells consisting of heavily shielded sealed chambers designed to allow operators to safety manipulate high radioactive materials. To interact with the inner part of the shielded chamber, human senses are replaced by robotic arms and sometimes cameras and microphones which are essential to carry out scientific experiments.
Within the seminar “Radio Active: Live from the Hot Cells,” we will investigate the acoustic environment of the JRC Karlsruhe hot cells through on-site audio recordings, interwoven with interviews, historical radio excerpts, and pop-cultural music, to create a curated mixtape intended for broadcast. We will examine how sound can showcase the scientific infrastructures and contexts of the JRC while engaging with public perceptions and debates surrounding the hot cells, using radio both as medium and metaphor to transmit an acoustic atmosphere.
From scenographic perspectives, the seminar explores strategies for translating the spatial and material qualities of this specific environment into sound, and for transmitting sound back into space through radio waves. Through processes of collecting, editing, and composing, the gathered material will be developed into final audio works, which are planned to be presented as part of an exhibition at the JRC Karlsruhe in autumn 2026.
The program includes the “How to build the simplest FM transmitter”-workshop by Tetsuo Kogawa, inputs on radio art by special guest Diana McCarty, an excursion to the JRC laboratories such as talks with the scientists and a research trip to Radio Dreyeckland in Freiburg.
Students who are already attending the research seminar “One Million Hot Cells” by Prof. Susanne Kriemann, Judith Milz, Prof. Isabel Seiffert and Prof. Nina Zschocke, are very welcome to also join this seminar.
Within the seminar “Radio Active: Live from the Hot Cells,” we will investigate the acoustic environment of the JRC Karlsruhe hot cells through on-site audio recordings, interwoven with interviews, historical radio excerpts, and pop-cultural music, to create a curated mixtape intended for broadcast. We will examine how sound can showcase the scientific infrastructures and contexts of the JRC while engaging with public perceptions and debates surrounding the hot cells, using radio both as medium and metaphor to transmit an acoustic atmosphere.
From scenographic perspectives, the seminar explores strategies for translating the spatial and material qualities of this specific environment into sound, and for transmitting sound back into space through radio waves. Through processes of collecting, editing, and composing, the gathered material will be developed into final audio works, which are planned to be presented as part of an exhibition at the JRC Karlsruhe in autumn 2026.
The program includes the “How to build the simplest FM transmitter”-workshop by Tetsuo Kogawa, inputs on radio art by special guest Diana McCarty, an excursion to the JRC laboratories such as talks with the scientists and a research trip to Radio Dreyeckland in Freiburg.
Students who are already attending the research seminar “One Million Hot Cells” by Prof. Susanne Kriemann, Judith Milz, Prof. Isabel Seiffert and Prof. Nina Zschocke, are very welcome to also join this seminar.