[aha] Fwd: Stefano Cagol: Un-Secret Signals

[eO]

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
http://www.tina-b.com
http://www.stefanocagol.com



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
http://www.tina-b.com

Contact: Marek Tomin, TINA B. Press Officer  marek.tomin at tina-b.com