Helen Louise Thorington (November 16, 1928 – April 13, 2023) was an American radio artist, composer, performer, net artist and writer. She was also the founder of New Radio and Performing Arts (1981), a nonprofit organization based in New York City; the founder and executive producer of New American Radio (1987–1998); and the founder and co-director of Turbulence.org (1996–2016).
Thorington began composing in 1974; her first works were aired on National Public Radio on such programs as Options, Voices in the Wind, and All Things Considered. In 1978, she began composing music for dance, collaborating with Bill T. Jones, Arnie Zane, and Lois Welk. She has performed nationally, including at Kennedy Center, Jacob's Pillow, Dance Theatre Workshop, and The Kitchen. Thorington began creating Internet art in the mid-1990s, co-producing several multimedia, hypertext narratives and networked performances that culminated in an installation of the seminal work, Adrift,Paul. Christiane, "Digital Art: Third Edition." Thames & Hudson World of Art, 2015, p.83 at The New Museum in 2001.
Early life and education Helen Thorington (nickname "Teedy") was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Richard Wainwright Thorington and Katherine Louise (Moffat) Thorington, and sister of Richard W. Thorington Jr.Thorington. Katherine K., Thorington. Ellen M., Thorington. Caroline M., "Obituary: Richard Wainwright Thorington, Jr. (1937–2017)," Journal of Mammalogy, 99(3):741–749, 2018; DOI:10.1093/jmammal/gyy045 She was a graduate of The Baldwin School, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and Wellesley CollegeHelen Thorington, Chief Justice of the Superior Court, Wellesley College, "The Wellesley Legenda 1950" (1950). The Wellesley Legenda. Book 47, p. 26, 120 (1950). After graduating with a BA in Biblical History, and attending Union Theological Seminary, New York (1951), Thorington discovered her passion for English literature. She studied English Literature at the University of Minnesota (1956–1958); continued with Special Studies in the English Comic Novel taught by John Bayley (writer), New College, Oxford University, England (1959–1961); and completed coursework for a PhD in English literature at Rutgers University (1965–1967). She compiled the index for Growth and Culture: A Photographic Study of Balinese Childhood by Margaret Mead, and worked as a copy editor at G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Death Thorington died of complications of Alzheimer's disease on April 13, 2023, at the age of 94.
Career
Writing Thorington wrote and published experimental fiction and art criticism.Thorington. Helen, "Net_Condition and Telemantic Manifesto." ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruh, Germany, 1999 Thorington. Helen, "Loose Ends/Connections: Interactivity in Networked Space." Style: Style in the Media Age, Volume 33, Number 2, Summer 1999. "Discusses the loose ends and connections of a narrative in a networked space. Details on the book 'North Country' adapted on CD-ROM, the Web and radio; Images of the story; Comparison of the CD-ROM translation with the Internet adaptation; Reasons for the tendency to compare and disparage Web works; Approach of 'Solitaire.'" She published short stories and other fiction in the 1970s. The Story, which aired on Public Radio in 1979, was published in Chelsea 36 (1977) and Chelsea 38 (1979). Written in 1977, The Author's Story (November 15) was published in Lost Areas by Oil Books, Sugar Run, Pennsylvania. The Longest Story: A Work in Progress for Adding Machine Tape (1975) was published in Sixth Assembling/A Collection of Otherwise Unpublishable Manuscripts, compiled by Henry Korn, Richard Kostelanetz and Mike Metz.Korn. Henry. Kostelanetz. Richard, Metz. Mike, Sixth Assembling/A Collection of Otherwise Unpublishable Manuscripts. Assembling Press, Brooklyn, 1975 In February 2021 her essay “The Making of American Radio Art” was published in PAJ (journal) by MIT Press.
Rip on/off (Switzerland) published a collection of Thorington's texts, Il est si difficile de trouver le commencement, in 2017.Thorington. Helen, Il est si difficile de trouver le commencement, Rip on/off, Edité et traduit de l’anglais (américain) par Lionel Bize, Laura Daengeli, Christian Indermuhle, Christine Ritter et Thibault Walter, 2017 Thorington co-authored with Jacki Apple the limited edition artist's book, The Tower in 2015; published in Contemporary Music Review;Thorington. Helen, "Breaking Out: The Trip Back." Routledge, Vol. 24, No. 6, December 2005, pp. 445 – 458Thorington. Helen, "The Networked_Performance Blog." Routledge, Vol. 25, No. 1/2, February/April 2006, pp. 193 – 197 and was commissioned by Tate Modern, London (2008) to write Radio, Art, Life: New Contexts.Thorington. Helen, Radio, Art, Life: New Contexts. Tate Modern, London, UK 2008. Her essays have been published in several books, including First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and GameThorington. Helen, "On Solitaire"Wardrip-Fruin. Noah Harrigan. Pat, "First Person: New Media as Story, Performance, and Game." MIT Press, 2004 and Unsitely Aesthetics - Uncertain Practices In Contemporary Art.
Sound Art
Radio Thorington found her way to sound through her writing. After publishing Adventures at Frog HollowHelen. Thorington, Martin. Mimi, "Adventures at Frog Hollow." 1973 in 1973, she was invited to produce a musical version for Towanda Performing Arts,"An effort in cooperative theatre, Towanda Performing Arts is made up of Towanda Little Theatre, the Towanda' Musical Society, and the Towanda branch of the Association of University Women. "The Frog Hollow Ghost" is being sponsored by the Mansfield branch of the American Association of University Women." The Evening Times from Sayre, Pennsylvania, November 6, 1973, Page 9 Towanda, Pennsylvania. Having no musical experience, she learned how to use an EML 101 Synthesizer and began creating her own compositions, including Trying to Think (1974) which influenced such artists as Laurie Anderson and Jacki Apple. Later, she began doing her own Field recordings − bats, oil pumps, trains, parrots, frogs − which she mixed with her synthetic sounds, her own and others' voices, and solo improvisations by musicians such as violinist Aurora Manuel ("Piece for Oil Pump and Violin"); cellist Deidre Murray ("Dracula's Wives"); and accordionist Guy Klucsevek ("North Country").
Thorington described her approach to sound this way: "My focus ... has been on radiophonic space. One of the things that distinguishes the electronic media is the ability to separate sound from its source, to remove environmental sound from its location, vocal sound from a person; to be able to cut, manipulate, and alter it in the creation of another kind of work. I liken this to the science of gene manipulation. We've reduced — or, I as a practicing radio artist, reduce — sound to sound data. I am not concerned that it's music, that it's an environment, that it's voice."Laskin. David, "Sound Advice to Save the Planet: Discussion with David Dunn, Bruce Odland, and Helen Thorington, EAR Magazine
In 1979, independent public radio producer Larry Josephson invited Thorington to the Airlie Seminar on the Art of Radio"National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Four "Airlie Seminars" are held in which leaders, creators and advocates discuss and define the values of public radio." 1977-1983 in Quantico, Virginia, where she premiered Dream Sequence. National Public Radio (US) purchased it, and it was among the first radio art works broadcast nationally (1977). Thorington was also commissioned by RAI (Italian radio), RNE (Spanish Radio) and ORF (Austrian radio). Her collaborators included Suzan-Lori Parks, Regine Beyer, Shelley Hirsch, Pamela Z, Agnieszka Waligorska and Sarah Montague.
Thorington spoke at international Radio art conferences and served as the Radio Editor for EAR Magazine from 1987 to 1989. She also curated the CD series Radius which was dedicated to presenting experimental works made for radio broadcast to a wider audience. Her documentaries, dramas, and sound compositions have been aired on radio, internationally, for the past thirty-five years. The New American Radio archive is now in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.
Selected works
Calling to Mind (2005) Liberty and Ellis-Fresh Perspectives (2000) Fleeting Encounters (1999) Parker's MUD Journal (1997) North Country (1996) Story Space (1995) The Hunt Is On: Reflections on the Human Genome Project (1994) Going Between (1993) In the Devil's Footsteps (1993) Dracula's Wives (1992) Loco-motive (1992) Recipe for a Lark (1992) Creative Tracks: Native American Artists in the '90s (1992) Partial Perceptions (1991—92) Terra dell'Immaginazione (1990) Aphids and Others (1990) In the Dark (1990) Congruent Appeal (1989) One to Win (1989) Straight Ahead (1989) Fiddling Around (1987) Hard City Rock: New York City in Sound (1987) Natural Classic (1987) Building a Universe, Part 2: Rifts, Absences and Omissions (1987) Parrot Talk (1986) Building a Universe, Part 1 (1985) The American Buffalo (1980) The Dream Sequence, Part 1 & 2 (1977) Trying to Think (1974)
Dance Thorington became a participant in the experimental dance scene when she met Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane through the American Dance Asylum (ADA), which they formed with Lois Welk in the late 1970s. After the ADA moved to Binghamton, New York, Thorington created the sound score for Welk's Matrix, which was performed in concert at the Robeson Center (Binghamton)Program Brochure, American Dance Asylum in Concert, October 26 & 27, 1978 and The Warren Street Performance Loft (New York City);Program Flyer, American Dance Asylum, June 5–7, 1981 and The Parking Ramp Dance, which was performed on Henry and Waters Streets' parking ramp, Binghamton.Current Arts, The Press, Binghamton, N.Y. Fri., Sept. 22, 1978, p.15 Her early scores for Jones and Zane included the trilogy Monkey Run Road, Blauvelt Mountain, and Valley Cottage.Dunning. Jennifer, "Dance: Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane's 'Valley Cottage'." The New York Times, April 05, 1981 Two of these works were revived for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company's 20th anniversary performances Jowitt. Deborah, "Rendezvous With Nimble Ghosts." The Village Voice, September 16, 2003 at Jacob's Pillow (MA) and The Kitchen (NY).Kisselgoff. Anna, "A Multilevel Partnership Is Celebrated", The New York Times, September 12, 2003 Baumgartner. Henry, "Bill T. Jones Picks Up the Keys." The New York Theater Wire, 2003 Thorington created the score for Jones' Echo (1979);Bill T. Jones & Musicians, The Kitchen, NY, March 8 & 10, 1979) Sisyphus (1980);World Premiere, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC, September 30, October 1, 1980. The program also included Thorington, Jones and Zane performing Blauveld Mountain and Open Places, a "group work" at the Battery Park Landfill, New York City.Dunning. Jennifer, "Dance: Art on the Beach Offer Bill T. Jones." The New York Times, September 2, 1980 She also collaborated with choreographers Victoria Marks,Smith. Amanda, "High Marks: Victoria Marks at the Ethnic Folk Arts Center." Village Voice, November 1981 Susan Salanger, Peter Anastos, and Julie Wright.
Live performance