Art, in all the wrong places

Created for Cities and Memory's Shortwave project, this piece starts from the real shortwave audio from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster to tell the real story of Robert H. Lawrence Jr., a United States Air Force officer and the first African-American astronaut.

"Shortwave radio is one of the most fascinating sonic worlds – capturing vital moments in world history as well as the thrill of pirate radio, clandestine radio stations, secretive number stations, military and spy radio. All of humanity is truly out there to be listened to at the turn of a dial – and it’s been remixe...

I venture with my namesake Cristina Marras along the Mining Trail of St Barbara, across the Sulcis mining area of Sardinia, gruelling isolated goat trails swept by the ubiquitous mistral wind, but also breath-taking glimpses of views and beaches with water so crystalline that it always reminds me of stained-glass windows in churches. And suddenly the smell of naphtha, motor oil, takes me back to my childhood.

See some of the pictures taken during the trip.

Written, edited and produced by M. Cristina Marras
Music Epidemic Sound
Photo by Giampiero Pinna<...

Meet Viviana: be it between the doors of a garage or enticing others to play along (and breathing and touching), her darkness is always a celebration of life, friendship and love. Some people have an intrinsic luminosity that transpires even when they are immersed in the deepest darkness.

Written, edited and produced by M. Cristina Marras
Music Epidemic Sound
Photo Viviana Staiano

This is part of my explorations on darkness. See also Exploration on darkness #1 (games we play in the dark), Exploration on darkness #2 (why is dark-ness), Exploration on darkness #3 (among friends)

There is no generic description that captures the essence of darkness. And this is what makes darkness so compelling.

Thank you to all the friends who have generously shared with me their thoughts. You are my inspiration. Thank you.

Written, edited and produced by M. Cristina Marras

Featuring (in alphabetical order):
Hala Abdelnour, Christian Astourian, Fabio Bruno, Essan Dileri, Samantha Easton-Cavanagh, Brett Ellenport, Daniele Ferlito, Magica Fossati, James Jackson, Kenton Miller, Nicola Morelli, Peter ‘Chook’ O’Rourke, James Panichi, Maurizio Pascucci, Samuel Sakama, Andi Snelling, Cate Taylor, Chloé Thibaux, Claudia van Vliet, Frankie...

My take on Piazza San Marco's soundscape. A narrative interpretation inspired by the memory of a trip that I took to Venice many years ago with my Australian boyfriend who didn't manage to captured with his toy camera the beauty of a deserted Piazza San Marco. My last trip to Venice resulted in a surreal feeling as I found myself alone in the square.
[11/09/2021] 

Created for Cities and Memories

There are many questions related to darkness, so many that it is difficult choosing where to start from.

Darkness is an overused metaphor to describe negative feelings. We need to remember that, like all metaphors, it is just an image.

This is part of my explorations on darkness. Its reality is rich in meanings and suggestions. Here I explore some of them.

Words, production and sound design by M. Cristina Marras
Voice Romeo M. Minutolo

[12/08/2021]

Always a pleasure playing at Sarag Geis' Audio Playground. This is my take on Assignment#16: "Make a podcast for your current commute" compiled while Italy was in total lockdown because of COVID.
Photo by Benoit Roy on Unsplash

[02/10/2020]

A tale of killer fish, a killer lion, an expensive camera (that I hoped was going to save someone's life), a mysterious video animation and dreams so vivid that you have to get dressed and go out (and even then you think that going out could be itself part of the scary dream).

And then lockdowns, fears, water, fish tanks, memories and why I avoid thinking of interesting things before falling asleep.

Voice, words, production and sound design by M. Cristina Marras

[01/10/2020]

Inspired by David Foster Wallace's essay of the same title, created for Radiotonic (ABC Radio National) and produced by Jesse Cox. 

Fascinated by lobsters, I take on a journey that starts from the stalls of Melbourne busy Victoria Market and takes me straight into an adventure that includes Sardinian wisdom, lobster police, a protective German shepherd, Jean Paul Sartre, the B-52’s and religious enlightenment.

No lobster was harmed in the making of this program.

Writer: Cristina Marras
 Sound Engineer: Mark Don
 Producer: Jesse Cox

Here the l...

ON AIR FEST OFFICIAL SELECT 2022 

Imagine being unable to speak your native language, and that your choice is between using whatever language you were taught as a kid or to use English, if you want to be heard. Welcome to my world! Fluent in three languages but unable to communicate with my illiterate grandmother, who only spoke Sardinian, I found myself mourning the loss of culture and familial connection this bizarre situation brought.

This piece was part of #AllTheBest programming allthebestradio.com/featured/459-lost-connections/

Voice, words, production and sound design by M. C...

Created for Sarah Geis' Audio playground "Roll a pair of dice. Make a 1-minute doodle inspired by that number. Guest prompt from Rob Rosenthal and Gwen.
Here all assignments www.audioplayground.xyz/assignments.

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

In Italy we devote three years to the study of Dante’s Holy Comedy, but despite of analysis and exegesis, no one remembers Purgatory and Heaven, we all remember Hell.

Amongst the many characters encountered in Hell, Odysseus is one of those that I’ve always loved because I very much identified with his spirit of rebellion against rules and his passion for discovery. Reading the story of Odysseus today, I still love it, but I cannot avoid thinking that behind every hero there is a multitude of enablers, people who must take care of the dirty, hidd...

Some things are better left untold.
Created for Sarah Geis' Audio Playground www.audioplayground.xyz/

Photo by 8 verthing on Unsplash

Sonic poem inspired by my last 5 Google searches, created as Assignment #12 for Sarah Geis' Audio Playground www.audioplayground.xyz/
[02/10/2020]

What does it feel like when you want to hug someone but you know that you should not? Or when you do, despite knowing that you should not? This is the new normal, when even the most mundane tasks, like taking the shopping to your elderly mother, become source of worry and doubt.
This story was made for Sarah Geis’ project Audio Playground.
Featured in All the best radio https://allthebestradio.com/shows/434-_/
[02/10/2020]

What does the opposite of inspiration sound like? It's an endless litany of audio prompts delivered with horrible audio and without any sense or order. Created as Assignment #13 for Sarah Geis' Audio Playground www.audioplayground.xyz/
[02/10/2020]

You are a weatherperson. Dress up, go outside, and give a 1-minute weather report. Created as Assignment #2 for Sarah Geis' Audio Playground www.audioplayground.xyz/
[02/10/2020]

It’s 2pm on a regular Thursday in the year 2050. Record a 30-second dispatch. Created as Assignment #11 for Sarah Geis' Audio Playground www.audioplayground.xyz/
[02/10/2020]

I don’t have a single picture from when the wall came down. That Thursday in 1989, I didn’t even take my camera with me, on purpose, and mind you, I never stepped outside without my Minox. Rule number one is that you don’t take pictures if you don’t understand what is happening. But not having taken any picture doesn’t mean that I don’t keep the images of those days safe in my mind.
 

"At the end I didn't meet Franca, and Michaela was in Spain on a study trip. Can you believe it? You are one of the few people who was actually born in Berlin and you miss it. For a stupid study trip to Spain."
Cristina has moved to West Berlin to learn German. She is young and everything is exciting. Even the occasional trip to East Berlin. Then on the afternoon of the 9th November 1989, history happens.

STORY AND SOUND DESIGN: Cristina Marras
VOICE: Cristina Marras and Stefano Olla (voice messages)
[26/09/2019]

So, I guess this is the suspended time we keep on talking about, a time that is not here nor there. Like the time...

Text, production and sound design by Cristina Marras
Photo by Mohammadreza Asherloo on Unsplash

Museums as machines to create stories. Sometimes things happen, on a summer afternoon, when there is nothing better to do.

This came back to me from some forgotten lane of my past, after listening to a lecture given in Melbourne by Rory Hyde in August 2015.

Voice, words, production and sound design by M. Cristina Marras
Opera singer courtesy of Ramston 
Soprano riffs courtesy of tweedledee3 
Music Epidemic sound
[13 Aug 2015]

ON AIR FEST OFFICIAL SELECT 2022
When I think about the dark, I think about a game that I used to play as a kid. I am here, in a house that is not mine. I’m here with my friend, I’ll call him Mario (I’ll tell you later why). I’m 11, he is one year younger than me.
Text, Voice and Production by M. Cristina Marras
[10/06/2021]

Sarah Geis' Audio Playground. assignment #20
Eulogize an object you have lost. Guest prompt from Zak Rosen.
EulogyAudioPlaygroundSoundrich
[28/07/2021]