newCardigan is five years old this month. If we were a human, we’d be “going” to school over Zoom by now! Normally we like to have a little birthday cardiParty in June, but things are weird this year. Instead, every day this week one of the ‘cardiCore’ will be sharing their personal reflections on the first five years of newCardigan. Please share your own reflections with us on your favourite social media, your blog, as a video or audio recording, an email, or via ye olde postal service. We can’t wait to read, hear and watch them.
Image: Clare Presser recording a cardiCast episode in the studio, October 2018
Goodness gracious – I have been part of newCardigan for a little over 3 years now. And what a ride it has been! I have managed to be part of the cardiCore from places around the world, interviewed Zine librarians in New York and strolled around just so many cool collections. For the most part, I have put the most energy in the cardiCasts – editing, recording and generally having a fun time sticking a mic into people’s faces. I am not the originator of the cardiCast (you can all thank Justine for that), but it has allowed me to keep my editing chops fresh as a daisy.
Image: Justine Hanna recording a cardiCast episode in the studio, June 2017
The challenge with cardiCast as an editor, and quite possibly for the listener, is to make the audio as easy to listen to as possible. I have hung over bannisters, crouched on the ground and convinced people to talk to me in broom cupboards to try and get the clearest listening experience possible.
Image: Clare Presser recording audio for cardiCast at the Sale Water Tower Museum, November 2019
People think GLAM institutions are quiet places. I don’t think people know how much noise an air conditioner makes, how acoustically live a concrete vault is or just how much of an auditory overload an interactive exhibition can be (hello animatronic dinosaurs). We, as a sector, make a lot of noise. Be as literal or metaphorical about that as you want, really!
Playing around with such an inspiring palette of people, places and organisations is a joy and a real pleasure. We all do some really cool stuff and it’s so great to get that out there.
Keep on writing those hits, kids.
We’ll keep on shouting it from the rooftops.