Jonathan Gitelson

Sonic Blanket was a community-based,
multi-media art project conceived during the early days of the pandemic lockdown. As I walked through my neighborhood, the glow of lights inside all the houses made me feel at once comforted and melancholy, knowing that everyone inside was feeling the same fear and isolation. I wished I could give solace and protection to everyone in these homes. As a former community radio DJ, I found radio waves an apt metaphor: an invisible forcefield hovering above us and a comforting blanket we sleep below.

As an antidote to pandemic isolation, I collaborated with other artists and community members to develop the project. The central component of Sonic Blanket was a 15-minute sound collage that I created with local musician Weston Olencki and Brattleboro-based poet Diana Whitney. The piece was broadcast each night at midnight on Brattleboro Community Radio (WVEW 107.7fm) from December 2021 through December 2022 and on select Sunday afternoons.

The sound waves emitting from the tower of WVEW extend roughly 10 miles in every direction. This “sonic blanket” (or listening area) was the literal and metaphorical framework for the collaboration. All of the participants live beneath this sonic blanket. The sound recordings were made here, the poem was written here, and the voices in the piece are those of community members who call Brattleboro home.

In the Fall of 2021, I designed two 21" x 11" posters to promote the project's launch. During the first week of the radio broadcast, the posters were published as full-page ads in the Brattleboro Reformer and the Commons.

During the early days of the project,
we were unable to hold in-person gatherings due to pandemic restrictions. To create a feeling of connection, we invited local listeners to submit photographs of the sky above them while they listened to the midnight broadcasts on WVEW and later posted them to www.sonicblanket.org.

LISTENING PARTIES

During the Spring of 2022, I created a series of outdoor signs made of inkjet prints mounted on wood and plexiglass, which I hung on trees and buildings throughout the broadcast area for
people to discover. Located in tucked away places and beside hiking trails, each sign featured the broadcast map and read: “You are beneath the cover of the Sonic Blanket.” A large banner featuring the same text was installed across Main Street in Brattleboro during the week of September 11–17, 2022.

In the Spring of 2022, WVEW began to
rebroadcast Sonic Blanket on Sunday afternoons to make it more accessible to listeners who could not listen at midnight. As pandemic restrictions began to loosen after months of
isolation, I organized multiple public listening gatherings for people to come together in a shared physical space to listen to the live broadcast as a community.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING

Sonic Blanket also consisted of a series of public artworks and events. During the summer of 2022, I partnered with Putney-based artist Amber Paris and local non-profit organizations, Artful Streets and the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, to develop a series of interactive art-making events and public installations for Brattleboro’s monthly
gallery walks. These included a poetry workshop inspired by the Sonic Blanket poem, a movement/dance workshop addressing grief and healing, a DIY artist book scavenger hunt, a screen print-your-own-t-shirt event, and numerous interactive installations in the alleyway that connects High St. and the Harmony Parking Lot.

SIGNS AND BANNERS

SONIC BLANKET

PHOTOGRAPHS & PRINTS

In addition to the public installations and
programming, I also created a series of
photographs and prints documenting the sky during broadcasts, a 15-minute Super 8 film, a book, and I designed and produced a 12" vinyl record featuring the radio piece.