Points of Articulation

Seth Scott
2025-26

Friar Bacon is trying to make a brass statue speak. Alone with his books, equipment and a patchy understanding of the human anatomy, he sets out on an circuitous quest to synthesise the human voice. As he traverses the deep history of speech science, studying dead bodies, ancient statues, automata, additive synthesisers and AI, his experiments grow unstable, feverish and strange.

Points of Articulation is a science fiction exploring the politics and poetics of synthesised speech. Based on an Elizabethan stage play about a scholar who enlists the help of the devil to make a talking head of brass, the five-part radio drama examines changing relationships between technology, knowledge and the human body.

The piece will be broadcast on 87.9FM in the Glasgow area and online via Resonance Extra as part of Radiophrenia 2026.

Part 1: 16 September 2026 2:00 pm - 2:20 pm
Part 2: 17 September 2026 2:00 pm - 2:20 pm
Part 3: 18 September 2026 2:00 pm - 2:20 pm
Part 4: 19 September 2026 2:00 pm - 2:20 pm
Part 5: 20 September 2026 2:00 pm - 2:20 pm

Points of Articulation was created by Seth Scott. Friar Bacon was performed by Jonathan Oliver. This project was made with the generous support of IRCAM and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.