“I base my doubts on the old fashioned thought that the radio feature is an audio-phonic art form which requires an impeccable understanding of the different facets of acoustic composition and creativity and the perfect knowledge of the implementation of the different audio-phonic forms of radio. This is based on the fact that if I think of the multimedia development, I do not want to think of a new form of film or television because neither the visual nor the audio medium may be degraded to an accompanying medium. This would mean that additionally to the acoustical creativity the author of a radio feature should also have some form of optical competence, or at least be part of a team where these deficits can be mended.
It is a fact that additional or complementary information can be shared via the Internet as a medium (pictures, bibliography, further information etc.) – but this is not what we are talking about. That would be banal. Just like the fact that new distribution forms that are not bound to broadcasters is a possibility that the Internet has brought us, but these facts do not belong to the theme of artistic development of the radio feature.
The question at hand is the creative composition and the core remark I have - which for me is that the radio feature has created spaces or realms in the audience – realms of thought and feelings where the recipient is active in the occurrences created by the authors. (I use the metaphor of “creative realms” instead of “pictures in the mind” as I find that the metaphor of “pictures in the mind” passivies the audience). What is the result if visual requisites are added to the feature making process? I deterred a film maker to add visual colour to our radio features once – simply because I find that it minimises the need for the audience to use its imagination.
The enjoyment of using the Internet for its participatory character ends in the moment where it becomes important to compose, or shape the product. Of course, the chaos, untidy or “dirty” feeling is charming to a certain degree – but the charm wears off relatively easily. Of course, this is also not a new development, but through the Internet, this has become easier. Novels that were written in the Internet could find their analogue partner in the acoustic medium – features; authors from around the world could send the product around for editing, re-editing etc. but the idea loses it’s charm quickly once it has been done.
Maybe the Internet is rather a place to build up communities of joint interests; not in the sense of Facebook trivial talk – but more in the sense of art galleries where themes are set and the products then “published” and swapped etc."
Richard Goll, freelancer, Austria
