The War, The Web, The Arts: Moon Radio

Moon Radio, Nottinghams exciting Internet broadcast channel, is currently screening Read the Signs". This short film by Nottingham film maker Jim Boxall is a personal response to what is happening and may be about to happen to Iraq, to the USA, to all of us.

Moon Radio is a space for artists to create live work especially for the web," comments company director Zini Pandya. We were excited by the opportunity to broadcast this contemporary and thought provoking film. Moon Radio is a space for debate and provides an alternative media channel to explore new ways of expression through both live and archived Internet broadcasting."

Director Jim Boxall comments "During the Christmas holidays 2002, as the threat of war with Iraq was becoming ever more serious, I was staying in Ohio, USA: my first time in the States. Whilst filming there I became aware of how certain everyday sights such as road signs, billboards, restaurant names and advertisements began to appear loaded with meaning in the light of this threat.

'There seemed to be a gap between a domestic American image of a benign, safe, homely and welcoming country and the threatening, warlike and more sinister perception of the USA held elsewhere in the world.

'This short piece is a personal response to try and provoke thought on what connotations these images may have in the light of what is happening and may be about to happen to Iraq, to the USA, to all of us."

TV Meets Cyberspace

Moon Radio is a space for new film, interactive artworks, live broadcast events and digital performance, sound and other experiments in live broadcast. It is a place for new beginnings and fantastic ideas, where live art meets TV, TV meets Cyberspace, and where a brave new world of distant transmissions is born.

The Technology -- Is Easy and Free

Moon Radio uses Real Player, freely available software that enables viewers to view audio and video that is embedded into a web page. To view a live broadcast you will need to download BASIC REAL PLAYER which is FREE from www.real.com.
To view archived films you can use a wide variety of formats including RealMedia, Quicktime, Active Streaming Format (Microsoft), and MP3.

The film has been encoded to be viewed on normal dial-up.

Cutting edge artforms from the comfort of your home

Over the past year, Moon Radio webTV has hosted 3 themed weekend events at the Broadway Media Centre, commissioned 15 artists / groups to make new work, and hosted a programme of new films. Moon Radio has many functions: for artists it is to distribute new ideas for broadcast to a wide international audience and a space to interact with audiences and peers through the website. For the public it is a place to widen ones experience of the Internet, to get a chance to see what is new and different on the cutting edge of new art forms, all through the comfort of your own computer screen. Moon Radio is a space to see artists exploring creative ideas using new technologies. It is also a chance to see the future of web TV, and to explore the large database of previously recorded work.

And what next...?

Moon Radio has been set up by Active Ingredient, an artist led digital arts group who developed the themes and ideas for the previous events and the website. This summer sees a buzz of activity on Moon Radio with content developing workshops being held for artists and film-makers and the release of three brand new pieces of work developed specifically for Moon Radio web TV.