Creative Audio Archive
The Creative Audio Archive (CAA) is a Chicago based center for the preservation and investigation of innovative and experimental sonic arts and music. CAA was formed in response to growing concerns over the general state of historical preservation of non-mainstream audio, in particular, recordings, print, and visual ephemera related to avant-garde and exploratory sound and music of the last five decades.
CAA is therefore conceived as a center to safeguard volatile materials, to transfer them to accessible and stable media, to catalogue and cross-reference these materials, and to make them accessible for study and, where feasible, presentation to the public at large.
Click here to visit the Creative Audio Archive site.
CAA seeks to bring together various existing collections and, where appropriate, to keep these collections intact as autonomous “sub-archives.” Currently, CAA houses the following three archives:
The ESS Collection is a continually expanding collection of all of ESS’s programs and projects since its inception in 1986. These include audio art, music, radio art, installation, sound poetry, cinema, performing arts, and other projects.
The Links Hall Collection includes documentation of 135 concerts, readings, and performances presented at the Links Hall Performance Series from 1987-1990. Curated by noted Chicago musician and composer Michael Zerang, the series presented an astonishing array of local, national, and international artists.
The Sun Ra/El Saturn Collection consists of approximately 600 tapes dating from the 1950s-1980s that represent the work of iconoclastic composer and bandleader Sun Ra. Tapes include rehearsals, live recordings, and recitations.
As each archive is processed, transferred, cataloged and encoded, their respective finding aid will be accessible through this website. Access to the collection is open to the public by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please email: info@creativeaudioarchive.org
