Jonathan Miller‘s short audio piece about a young Kenyan inventor and his mother debuted before a live audience at the Tribeca Festival in June. The piece was one of four Audio Flux “circuit selects” chosen by an international jury from among 97 entries from around the world. It also aired on the public radio program The World.
“Cool Shoes” tells the story of Jacob “Teddy” Omondi, a 23-year-old self-trained engineer who created a pair of multifunction sneakers out of discarded electronic parts. The shoes were fitted out with vibrators from old cell phones, fans from junk laptops, lights, a charging port, and a Bluetooth music player. They were inspired by his mother, Sarah Okoth, who works as a street vendor in the western Kenya city of Kisumu, on Lake Victoria, and whose feet are often hot and tired at the end of the day.
Audio Flux calls itself “a home for innovative, short-form audio and bold storytelling.” The group periodically invites audio makers to create short works inspired by a set of prompts. The resulting “fluxworks” reach audiences in live events, online, across social channels, and on the Audio Flux Podcast. This round’s theme was “Trash or Treasure.” Pieces had to connect in some way to climate change, include one clip of audio from a set of provided recordings, and clock in at exactly three minutes long.