May 3, 1999: Siren-happening by sound-artists on all free radio stations in Amsterdam and from where else this will be heard. Put your speakers in the windowsill and/or listen in- and out-doors.

An alarm was sounded across Amsterdam for one hour between 17.30 and 18.30 because of the war in Kosovo. By using CDs with siren sounds and sound installations (mostly huge speakers set on window sills and aimed outward, into the streets, with radios tuned to one of 3 pirate radio stations who were broadcasting the sounds of airraid sirens) around Amsterdam at various sites, the sirens could be heard throughout Amsterdam.

The sirens could be experienced as an irritant or as a reminder of the sonic feeling of panic, the feeling of fear of approaching bombardments. Aspects of the war in Kosovo, the destructive and senseless aspects of bombardments, the criminality of a Milosevic, were thus experienced on an emotional or visceral level. There was the chance, however, that it could end up being difficult for those who would be reminded of their own horrific experiences of hearing arirraid sirens during WWII.

But for most of those born after WWII, the sonic effect was meant to reverberate through our nervous systems and, in a way, circumvent our logical systems of justification and denial. We could not tune it out so easily. From my vantage point as a dj the sirens could be heard and felt for a great fantastic distance and the annoying, lingering nature of the sirens had to be absorbed and dealt with. As people passed our sonic site, source of the sirens, one could observe them being forced to deal with some aspect of the war as they passed by in the comfort of their thoughts and cars. Other campaign participants handed out leaflets explaining the action to the passersby and neighbors. Police appeared but seemed disinclined to take dramatic action, especially after they were handed the leaflet and assured that the sirens would only last for one hour.

concept: Autonoom Centrum in Amsterdam with the participation of Radio Patapoe 97.2, Radio 100 99.3 and Radio de Vrije Keyzer 96.3 and others.