Signal Lost: Archive Unzipped - Soundboard

(Page for the soundboard for the Signal Lost radio shows)

Snippets from the interview with Ari

A1. Oh I often feel like poeple see archiving as this process of gathering and keeping safe, I guess. But, I mean, if you take archiving out of this institutional and Western context, archiving has been a way of creating and building community and art for, like, years, within thousands of indiginous cultures. I mean, oral history is a form of archival practise, and that in itself is like, as we've seen, an artistic way of providing information.

A2. So I really like the idea of an archive being anything but the structure we've already got. So, like, there's so much space for the process to become the end goal.

A3. Euhm... Oh f***.

A4. And then allow the public to come and like, ruffle through everything

A5. So I think this also adds to this living archive, breathing archive... it's its own organism. That's really nice to see, I think, for me.

A6. This media being shared is in itself a payment.

A7. Oh it's awful, yeah, sorry, yeah, it's awful.

A8. I think I've gone too far down the hole of being an archivist, where no piece of anything is just a thing. Like this book: no, it has feelings, it must be seen. It can't just sit here gathering dirt.

A9. Oh my god, I was digging through the archive a while ago.

A10. I think responsibility is there. I definetely feel like... if this isn't seen, it's on me.

A11. It's not for us, its for the sake of, you know, the archive. So that it can be seen like by not just me and not just the people who work here, but by, like, the broader public.

A12. Someone came to an event at WORM and broke into the room at Pirate Bay and slept there.

A13. So obviously there is this fear that something is destroyed or lost.

A14. ... of taking on these damages or losses, but not taking it as a way that demoralizes you, but like gives you more fire to tell this new story of the work Like, it just went through another thing. That's awesome.

A15. Where it is doesn't really matter, you know. It's just that it's there.

A16. I think I have a lot more fun with it, knowing that I can share it.

A17. Wanting to protect your property, rather than sharing this resource.

A18. I think it creates a whole new set of people that come into WORM, and a whole new set of curiosities of WORMies of people who havve been coming here for years, and they're like... WOW.

A19. So, no, I don't know if that answered your question at all...

A20. It engages people who would never for any other reason engage within a formal archive in that way, and allows them to involved and tactile with it, and like, actually, like, interest in what they're doin. And I think that's what an archive is meant to do... engage.

A21. As soon as this archive stops being a community archive, it loses it's value.

A22. Like no actually, this is as much mine as yours as this person's.

A23. F*** this get this out of the archive!

A24. I wanna store this thing for years later. And maybe it's not interacted with in the same way, but its still present... because it should be?

A25. No, my answer is no, I will not.

A26. There are always things that are lost and things that get added. So I mean it's a natural cycle of information or independence or whatever you're gaining, there's some loss that comes with that.

A27, I feel like that's exactly the same as setting them on fire.

A28. I mean those found objects aren't just gonna be objects forever.

A29. OH MY GOD THIS PERSON IS A GENIUS THIS IS CRAZY!!!

A30. I'm SO glad our tap water is up to par.

Snippets from the interview with Ife

I1. I feel like within Worm everyone can find something for themselves. As if Worm is one big community.

I2. Well my attitude towards archiving, which is also quite passionate, which is also something I loved about being an intern at Worm because there's so much to look at and to get into. I remember when I started at Worm, Worm Pirate Bay, the archive, was closed for a while. And there was a lot of initiative in trying to re-open it and get people aware of the fact that you can just make an appointment to stop by, look through anything that you might be interested in.

I3. I really like the idea of getting to know people, chatting with people, and figuring out how we can all collaborate with our individual skills and strenghts and make a project.

I4. ..spaces like Worm that allow you to get together and explore and experiment. And i think the lack of those spaces with likeminded people is what brings the difficulty of being able to interact in such a non-judgemental and wholesome way.

I5. Oftentimes we have this problem that we have a hobby, or we're interesteed in something, or we have a hobby but we don't necessarily know what to do with it. and sometimes it makes the thing feel less important. like, i don't know, i write essays but i don't know for what, and i don't know who can read it and who can benefit from it. But i feel like if you can have a space where you can submit these things. Whether it's for your own exposure, or whether it's anonymously... I think people can always benefit from that. Oftentimes we don't have a space where we get validated for the things we do for fun or the things we do experimentally benefit others as well, whether it's them being part of my process or they're able to see my process

I6. All of this basically happens in conversation with others right?

I7. All of this basically happens in conversation with others right?

I8. It really feels like I belong to  Rotterdam, and I think part of what allows me to feel this way is obviously my friends, and my community, and my people but also having spaces like Worm.

I9. It makes things a lot easier for yourself when you know that people are just as overwhelmed, just as stressed,  just as confused and just as all over the place as you are.

I10. When you listen to people think out loud a lot of your thought process out loud  gets validated.

I11. TRANSCRIPT GOES HERE

TRANSCRIPT GOES HERE

Communal archives

Often times when people are truly listened to they act differenty

Worm taught me, All you really need to build a community is people who are interested in doing so 

Communal archival can also contribute to history from below, different narratives, allowing people from different backgrounds to contribute about the same thing

You don't necessarily know who is listening

audio collage with more voices

This audio collage interweaves the voices of various people associated with Worm. It's about sharing experiences and listening to each other, creating space to talk about archiving as a way to build community