sawako's petite crystal radio page

This page is the documentation of my crystal radio related projects.

My first encounter with crystal radio was in the early 2000s when a friend introduced me to Kenji Kobayashi's exhibition. At first, I had no idea what the relationship was between a stone and a radio. But I immediately became fascinated with the idea of using a stone as a radio without batteries to receive radio signals. I started to think, "I hope I can make a work using a crystal radio system in the future…"

The chance came in late 2006 when I learned that I had been selected for a commission by Roulette with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation. This led to "ishi ~ listening stone", my first crystal radio work, which premiered at Roulette in November 2007.

In 2008, the variation of the work will be released from unframed, a label which releases audio recordings and art multiples by sound artists. The work will use more site-specific elements, and we are planning to release a limited 7-inch vinyl record with a letterpress printing jacket and a small radio or radio stone.

c . o . n . t . e . n . t . s
antenna checker
crafts and wearable
"ishi ~ listening stone" (premiered in Roulette, NYC)

l . i . n . k . s
about a crystal radio (wikipedia)
kenji kobayashi (Japanese crystal radio artist, also selling the radio kit)
free103point9 (NYC based transmission art organization)
roulette (NYC based venue and organization who is supporting the NYC downtown music scene more than 30 years)