Selected from over 380 entries from artists in 60 different countries, »21s« by Emiddio Vasquez is a dense confabulation radio drama that permeates the nexus of militarism and club culture in Cyprus.
Unfolding in Ayia Napa (once lauded as the epicenter of UK garage) from the late 1990s to the present, Vasquez’s layered sound world draws on localized sources: ELF (extremely low frequency) radio recordings near British military bases, field recordings from Ayia Napa’s alleys, and bat calls used as metaphors for radio transmissions. These intermingle with studio takes of fictional drum breaks performed by local drummer Stelios Antoniou, commissioned radio announcements recalling Kiss FM, the production of which the artist outsources through online freelance platforms, and samples from UK garage label Nice N’ Ripe. Working towards a psychogeography of a geopolitically fraught locality, the piece takes the »resonant circuit« as a point of departure – the phenomenon that enables tuning into radio frequencies – while foregrounding the inevitability of »unwanted« noise and interference in transmission.
Visually, the performance draws critically on AI-slop aesthetics, evoking today’s hallucinatory media consumption and the self-delusions projected onto spaces like Ayia Napa, including the orientalizing imaginaries of Cyprus in the eyes of British visitors.
The title references So Solid Crew’s iconic UK garage track »21 Seconds«, a song on repeat for Vasquez and many others when it topped the charts. Reflecting more broadly on how media have reshaped our sense of temporality, it asks how radio might reclaim time by attuning us to different forms of listening.
The 2026 Radio Lab open call sought proposals relating to the theme of »dissonate < > resonate« that also engaged with the artistic possibilities of radio and live performance mediums. A project by Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Hörspiel / Klangkunst and CTM Festival in collaboration with Goethe-Institut, ORF Ö1 Kunstradio, this year it is also presented within the framework of the sound art initiative tekhnē.
The jury was composed of Jessica Ekomane (independent artist), Elisabeth Zimmerman (producer Kunst zum Hören, ORF), Marcus Gammel (head of drama, documentary, and radio art, Deutschlandfunk Kultur), and James Grabsch (co-curator CTM Festival).
The Radio Lab is a project by Deutschlandfunk Kultur – Hörspiel / Klangkunst and CTM Festival in collaboration with Goethe-Institut, and ORF Ö1 Kunstradio. This year it is also supported by the sound art initiative tekhnē, which is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.