A Collaboration between EFA Project Space and Telephone
November 4–December 17, 2011
Opening:
November 4, 6–9 pm
EFA Project Space
The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts
323 West 39 Street, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10018
www.efanyc.org/telefone-sem-fio
Gallery Hours:
Wed–Sat, 12–6
Artists/Poets:
Jean-Sébastien Baillat, Jen Bervin, Ray Bianchi, Bibi Calderaro, Macgregor Card, Deric CarnerF, Angela Detanico & Rafael Lain, Brendan Fernandes, Kenneth Goldsmith, Thessia Machado, Rossana Martinez, Tom Moody, Benjamin Moreno, Trong Gia Nguyen, Nico Pam Dick, Charles Perrone, Steve Savage, Jennifer Schmidt, Dannielle Tegeder, Edwin Torres, Rodrigo Toscano, and Andrea Van Der Straeten.
Curators:
Michelle Levy for EFA Project Space, Sharmila Cohen and Paul Legault for Telephone
Issue/Catalogue:
Ugly Duckling Presse
Lead Consultant:
Charles Perrone
EFA Project Space partners with the poetry journal Telephone to present a unique exhibition and corresponding publication inspired by Brazilian concrete poet, Augusto de Campos. Telefone Sem Fio: Word-Things of Augusto de Campos Revisited uses de Campos’s work as catalyst for a multi-disciplinary exercise in which a group of artists and poets have been invited to create “translations” in their own medium.
Augusto de Campos is a poet, translator, music critic, and visual artist whose work emphasizes the direct connections between language, sound, and image. He was one of the originators of the Brazilian concrete poetry movement that began in the 1950s and continues to influence the work of musicians, visual artists, and writers today. De Campos began working with his brother Haroldo and fellow poet Decio Pignatari to promote concrete poetry, which they defined as a “tension of thing-words in space-time.” They sought to reduce language to its essential components of letters and sounds in an attempt to re-create a language that blurs the sensory lines of speech, sight, and sound with time.
The Fall 2011 issue of Telephone will be concurrent with the exhibition, and the exhibition will be modeled after the journal which, mimicking the children’s game of “Telephone,” focuses on the work of one poet that is then translated multiple times in a variety of ways. This issue, which will be published in collaboration with Ugly Duckling Presse, will double as an exhibition catalog. A web version, which contains sound and time-based components will exist on the Telephone website.
The poets and artists invited to participate push the boundaries of text, sound, and visual expression. They were asked: How do we look at such text/objects now? How can we re-inject the heart of the original sentiment and intention into our current context?
A series of readings / performances and talks will be scheduled throughout the run of the exhibition.
Dates and details to be announced within the next month. For general information please email projectspace [at] efanyc.org, or call 212-563-5855 x 244
For press inquiries, please contact Michelle Levy, Director, EFA Project Space Program at: michelle [at] efanyc.org, 212-563-5855 x 227
Telephone, a publication of Telephone Books, is a biannual journal of experimental translation launched in September 2010. In this short time, the publication has been featured in Harper’s Magazine and BOMB. www.telephonejournal.org
EFA Project Space, a program of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, was launched in September 2008 with a focus on the investigation of the creative process. It presents exhibitions and programs in collaboration with organizations, curators, collectives and artists in order to provide a comprehensive and critical perspective on creative practices.
The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) is a 501 (c) (3) public charity. Through its three core programs, EFA Studios, EFA Project Space and the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, EFA is dedicated to providing artists across all disciplines with space, tools and a cooperative forum for the development of individual practice. www.efanyc.org
EFA Project Space is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Private funding for the program has been received from the Lily Auchincloss Foundation.