Lost media refers to audio, video, audiovisual or other material â originally intended for public viewing â that has been fully or partially lost. These pieces of media might be no longer available because of having no more remaining copies to be known, being hidden, deleted, destroyed or obscured; or, as an edge case, they may not even be real (e.g. urban legends) or have never been released in the first place. Such artefacts can also be political: believed-to-be lost media can fuel conspiracy theories when linked to propaganda, censorship, historical revisionism or a control of media.
A subcategory of lost media is lostwave, which specifically refers to lost music. Evoking a sense of mystery, loss and nostalgia of a past out of reach, these cultural âghostsâ have a conceptual link to hauntology and hauntological music too, such as The Caretakerâs work of distorted samples of old records.
Apart from archival and preservation companies, the research and collecting of lost media is a communal effort. It attracts people to online communities such as r/lostmedia and r/lostwave on Reddit, or The Lost Media Wiki website.
Radio Loss is an infinite audio loop consisting of various different lost media pieces, played in an exhibition space and on this website. The collaborative audio piece consists of various different lost media elements, reflecting on its several subcategories (lostwave songs, voice recordings, field recordings, etc.). Through invitations of artists and musicians, the piece is constructed of artificial, fake lost media parts (fake lostwave songs, speculative documentary elements, etc.), as well as ârealâ lost media pieces (samples from lost audio projects, songs never to be released, etc.).
The elements of the audio composition you can hear have been traced back to the following sources:
- 00:00:00 eden_jeneses 12.04.1993
- 00:00:28 petra pilbĂĄk ( ) _ sileÌns _ 1 _ spectral loops 26.08.2024
- 00:07:07 petra pilbĂĄk ( ) _ sileÌns _ 2 _ spectral loops 27.08.2024
- 00:17:32 elsie lappoh no date
- 00:23:24 SAWA sketch22
- 00:28:10 Knobkreek (Ăkos DĂ©ri, BĂĄlint Zalkai) and JĂĄnos Marno Jambikus nesz - A vĂĄlsĂĄg (Excerpt) 2022
- 00:34:05 asvany 2020â2021
- 00:45:26 QWxsZXkgQ2F0c3M=
- 01:12:08 acceptyrfate
- 01:36:55 olaflur trauma 2015
- 01:39:36 Mark Markin II III_240813 2024
- 01:41:53 elvira rotonda
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Radio Loss is a project by BarnabĂĄs BĂĄcsi from 2024. Many thanks to the artists and musicians who contributed to the project, as well as for the support to Lahmacun Radio and the Goethe-Institut Budapest. For all audio material, the rights belong to the respective artists and musicians.
Contact: bacsib [at] pm [dot] me