Agenda
Curated by Ramdom
4.05.2021 > 31.08.2021
rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me): Sourcecode marks the conclusive act in a trilogy of exhibitions based on the project rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me). Conceived by artist Emilio Vavarella, winner of the 6th edition of the Italian Council grant (2019), this project is the result of an interdisciplinary research into the origin and current applications of binary technology: from weaving to programming, algorithms, software, and automation processes, up to the complete computerization of the human being.
The exhibition “Sourcecode” will open in Bologna at GALLLERIAPIÙ, following the previous exhibitions “Ideas, Hypotheses, Assumptions and Objects” (July-September 2020, Gagliano del Capo), and “Errors, Limits and Malfunctions” (January-February 2021, Shanghai). A source code is simultaneously an origin and an elaboration, a source of life and the effect of life’s digital processing. The idea of a source code permeates the body of works exhibited in the gallery, and forms the basis of the conceptual and technical infrastructure of the exhibition.
Whereas the previous two exhibitions in this series were focused respectively on Vavarella’s research process and on his work methodology, the current show will unveil Vavarella’s new project in its entirety. The fulcrum of the show is the installation rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me). The title refers to the first line of text resulting from the genotyping of Vavarella’s DNA. This piece is based on the translation of his genetic code into a large fabric, through the labour of his mother, using one of the first modern computational machines from the late nineteenth century: the Jacquard loom. The result is a monumental work composed of a grayscale fabric, a loom, and a video. The use of the nineteenth-century loom led to the production of a grayscale textile sixty centimeters wide and eighty-two meters long, thus pushing the technical possibilities of this early computational machine to their furthest limits. This work, currently on loan, has become part of the permanent collection of MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna.
The show also includes a new series of works entitled Sections (The Other Shapes of Me): medium- and large-scale tapestries, eight of which are on view, that explore the weaving possibilities of contemporary digital looms. Every single piece corresponds to a section of Vavarella’s DNA. Pushing the technical possibilities of these more modern machines, Vavarella has produced polychrome tapestries whose vertical dimension corresponds to his own height.
The exhibition is closed by the series Samples (The Other Shapes of Me): nine small- and medium-sized tapestries, never exhibited in Italy. Each tapestry corresponds to a DNA sample of the artist, woven through heterogeneous digital processes.
The show is accompanied by the artist book rs548049170_1_69869_TT published by MOUSSE and edited by Emilio Vavarella, Claudio Zecchi, and Paolo Mele. This publication highlights and extends the aim of Vavarella’s project through the contributions of fifteen thinkers and practitioners from the fields of art, philosophy, bioengineering, media theory, and the history of science and technology.
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Emilio Vavarella (Monfalcone, 1989) is an artist whose work blends interdisciplinary art practice and theoretical research and is centered around the study of the relationship between humans and technological power. Vavarella is currently working toward a Ph.D. in Film and Visual Studies and Critical Media Practice at Harvard University. He holds an M.A. cum laude in Visual Arts from Iuav University of Venice, with study abroad fellowships at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Tel Aviv and Bilgi University of Istanbul and received a B.A. cum laude in Visual, Cultural, and Media Studies from the University of Bologna.
Vavarella has been awarded numerous art prizes and grants, most notably the Exibart Art Prize (2o2o); Italian Council award (2019); Premio Fattori Contemporaneo (2019); SIAE – Nuove Opere (2019); the NYSCA Electronic Media and Film Finishing Funds grant (2016); the Francesco Fabbri Prize for Contemporary Art (2015) and the Movin’Up Grant (2015).
Esteemed venues that have exhibited Vavarella’s work include: MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo; KANAL – Centre Pompidou; MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna; Museum of Contemporary Art – Zagreb; Museu de Ciències Naturals of Barcelona, The Photographer’s Gallery of London, Museo de Arte de Caldas; Villa Manin; Museo Nacional Bellas Artes in Santiago; Museu das Comunicações of Lisbon, National Art Center of Tokyo; Eyebeam Art and Technology Center and Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina. His artworks have been exhibited at film festivals such as Toronto’s Images Festival; Torino Film Festival, and the St. Louis International Film Festival, and at the many of the most prestigious festivals of media arts, among which: EMAF – European Media Art Festival; JMAF – Japan Media Arts Festival; Stuttgarter Filmwinter – Festival for Expanded Media; BVAM – Media Art Biennale; and NYEAF – New York Electronic Arts Festival.
Ramdom is an organization devoted to cultural and artistic production, based in Gagliano del Capo, Italy. It was founded in 2011 by Paolo Mele and Luca Coclite with the aim of providing international projection to contemporary art projects produced in dialogue with the local territory of Salento. Over the past seven years, its activities have included exhibitions, public art productions, residencies, and workshops, plus two ongoing research-focused endeavors: Investigation of Extreme Lands and DEFAULT. In 2016 it launched Until the End of the Sea Residency program, dedicated to artists and curators under thirty-five.
Winner of the 6th edition of the Italian Council (2019) with the project rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me) by artist Emilio Vavarella and in 2020 the 8th with the artwork Tools for Imagination by artist Céline Condorelli. Ramdom is also a partner of Fluxo project a project by artist Alessandro Sciarroni produced by Arthub and winner of the 9th edition (2020) of the Italian Council.
Institutional partners:
MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna (Italia); The Film Study Center (Harvard); Arthub (Shanghai)
Technical partner:
Tessitura Giaquinto (Gagliano del Capo, LE)
