deadtech

Huong Ngo
Kosmolet (Radio Receiver No. 1)
October 6-November 10
Deadtech
3321 W. Fullerton Ave.
Opening Oct. 6, 7:00-10:00 pm
www.huongngo.com

This Saturday, October 6, we are opening a new installation by Huong Ngo titled "Kosmolet (Radio Receiver No. 1)" at Deadtech.

Kosmolet is a radio drawing, a functional receiver made out of common household materials, that spans the entire gallery space. Delicate wire lines serve as antennas, bricolaged cardboard and aluminum foil become the frequency tuners, and lowly cardboard tubes are transformed into noble inductor coils.

^{tuning mechanism detail}

'Kosmolet' is a celebastardization of the Russian word 'Komsomolet,' or 'little comrade,' the name given to crystal radio kits for little boys during the Stalinist era. Tuning into as many stations as possible in the shortwave to mid-wave range, Kosmolet is also a little world, or the world all at once, a Wunderkammer of sounds. Inspired by anecdotes of handmade radios scraped together under the watchful eyes of oppressive governments, Kosmolet is a declaration of the subversive power of information.

^{balloon powered antenna flying out the window of deadtech.}

This show get's a great write-up in Bert Stabler's
The Nest of All Possible Worlds article in NY Arts Magazine.