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TINA B - The Prague Contemporary Art Festival PRESENTS A SPECIAL PROJECT Stefano Cagol: Un-Secret Signals Curated by Micaela Giovannotti Special VIP Week: October 9 - 13 |
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Stefano Cagol, 'Un-Secret Signals', Prague, 2008 Mass communication and Babilonia. |
Fragmented communication and freedom of _expression_.
Secrecy and disclosure.
Locked and open.
Black and white.
Morse Code and Light.
Hallucinatory flashes of light from the top of the Petrin Tower in Prague illuminate and disorient the nocturnal cityscape of this historical and fascinating place. Sound sequences play intermittently night and day, concurrently accompanying light signals that simultaneously spell out cryptic messages in Morse Code.
In "Music for Prague 1968," the famous Czech composer Karel Husa played his oboe while following the Morse Code rhythm as trombones wailed like sirens. Likewise, Stefano Cagol exploits the secretive Morse Code communication system to remember the Spring of Prague anniversary, evoking miscommunication, classified secrecy, displacement and disturbance.
Sound signals will pervade the city during the day, while at night they will be re-invigorated by the inclusion of pulsating light that renders them more evident and visible but nonetheless incomprehensible and mysterious.
Stefano Cagol's work nurtures and questions the ambiguity inherent in and the limitations of contemporary communication. He challenges the use of language in mass media and places his interventions between freedom of _expression_ and mass manipulation.
This consideration of control issues and mass communication is all the more pertinent for the city of Prague during its 40th anniversary of the Spring of Prague, an event that has become a strong symbol of liberty and free thought, as well as of the ill-fated imposition of political and military might. It has taken on a profound new meaning in light of the recent events currently taking place in Georgia.
THE ARTIST
Stefano Cagol (Italy) has exhibited internationally in many solo and group shows. Most recently his work was included in Eurasia, MART Museum, Rovereto and Manifesta 7, parallel event, Trento. He also participated to The Peekskill Project 2008 at HVCCA Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, New York (2008). Upcoming projects include: Abschiedsfest at MARTa Herford (Germany) and artist residency with solo show at the Hoet Bekaert Gallery, Ghent (Belgium), in April 2009.
THE CURATOR
Micaela Giovannotti is an Independent Curator and Critic based in NY. She was US Editor of tema celeste contemporary art magazine until 2006. She has published extensively and curated numerous exhibitions internationally, among others at White Columns, New York (2004), in Miami during Art Basel Miami 2006 and 2007, for tina b. The Prague Contemporary Art Festival in 2007, at White Box, New York (2008), and for the Toronto International Art fair, 2008.
For TINA B 2008 Micaela Giovannotti has curated the Special Projects section by Stefano Cagol (Italy), Daniel Hanzlik (CZ), Martin Kocourek (CZ), Wooloo Productions (DEN, live in Berlin) and VIDEOCRACY at the Italian Cultural Institute with Tamy Ben-Tor (Israel, lives in NYC), Regina Jose Galindo (Guatemala), Ragnar Kjartansson (Island), Sigalit Landau (Israel), Domenico Mangano (Italy), Alex McQuilkin (US), Adrian Paci (Albania, lives in Italy), Amparo Sard (Spain), Wooloo.org (Berlin), Hank Willis Thomas and Kambui Olujimi (US).
TINA B 2008
Guest curators for tina b. 2008 are: Micaela Giovannotti, Blanca de la Torre Garcia, Rosanna Musumeci, Yukiko Ito, Viktor Misiano, Marek Tomin, the Greyzone Collective.
Under the patronage and with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the City of Prague, the third edition of TINA B - The Prague Contemporary Art Festival aims yet again to combine the creative energy of the cultural scene in Central and Eastern Europe with emerging talents and trends from around the world in the Czech Republic's vibrant capital.
Adopting the leitmotif FORMS OF ENGAGEMENT, TINA B will focus on the relationships between art and society, exploring the role of contemporary artists and artistic practice as socio-cultural agents that not only provide a critique of social order, but also serve a direct, positive and symbiotic social function on both a local and global level.
TINA B
the prague contemporary art festival
Janovského 23, prague 7, czech republic
phone: +420 774 155 591
Contact: Marek Tomin, TINA B. Press Officer [email protected]
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