The NEXT is excited to present its first traveling exhibition, Trans[creation]. A collaboration between the Brazilian arts group aarea.co and NT2 located in Montréal, the exhibition was originally launched during a two-day colloquium co-hosted with McGill University on 10-11 June 2021 as a celebration of Brazilian poet and artist Augusto de Campos.
The exhibition features three important works by Augusto de Campos that have been restored into open web languages, along with three recent works commissioned by the NT2 Laboratory that "dialogue with each other around the theme of transcreation" in line with de Campos' aesthetic and the "Decamposian legacy" ("Curatorial Statement").
Showcased in the exhibition are interactive poems from de Campos's "Interpoemas" group published on CD-ROM from 1995-1997: "Conversogramas," "Caos Cage," and "Portas do Ouver," all of which have been restored by aarea.co's technical consultant and creative coder, Adriano Ferrari, who worked closely with the artist in the restoration process. Commissioned art includes XTXT musicA de Campos, by Daniel Scan (Brazil); Image for an image, by Not the Dress (Meredith Noelle and Aya Karpinska, USA); and Jurema Sagrada (Sacred Jurema), by Rodrigo D'Alcântara (Brazil and Canada). The Trans[creation] logo and exhibition graphic design are by Wallace Masuko.
Accessing the Works in the Exhibition
Upon landing at the exhibition site created and maintained by aarea.co and shared with The NEXT, desktop visitors will notice three Trans[creation] icons situated across the space. Hovering over each reveals three points of access relating to a specific language with which visitors can experience the exhibition: English, Portuguese, and French. Clicking or tapping on one of the icons, visitors are taken to the works in the exhibition presented in that selected language. At any time, visitors can shift among the languages to read about the work. Note that visitors using mobile devices will be asked to select the language they wish to use for accessing the site and be taken to the site based on their choice.
Along with an introduction space that provides a curatorial statement for the exhibition, each work is provided its own exhibition space that includes the title of the work, images associated with it, a description, and bio(s) of the artist(s). To scroll through the full text of the description, visitors can use the up and down arrow keys of their desktop computer or swipe on their mobile device.
Visitors can return to the landing site at any time during their exploration of the exhibition by clicking on the "TC" icon located in the navigation at the bottom of the screen.
Credits
We would like to thank Bertrand Gervais, the Canada Research Chair in Digital Arts and Literature, the NT2 Laboratory, UQAM, as well as the exhibition curators—Marcela Vieira and Livia Benedetti of aarea.co; and Gina Cortopassi and Alexandra L Martin, UQAM—for entrusting The NEXT with this important exhibition. We also thank Cecily Raynor and Kate Bundy of McGill Digital Humanities at McGill University for including ELO and the Electronic Literature Lab as sponsors in the colloquium.
Additional sponsors: Consulate General of Brazil in Montreal, Figura-NT2 Concordia, GREN, CRIHN, Aquarela Publications
For Further Exploration
Below are resources associated with the exhibition and the two-day colloquium that may be useful for visitors who wish to know more about Augusto de Campos and the artists and scholars involved in the events.
Trans[creation] Colloquium Schedule of Events
https://bit.ly/2UMUmYv
Video Recordings on Vimeo of the Colloquium and Walk-Through of the Exhibition
https://vimeo.com/showcase/8591753
ALN NT2's Trans[creation] Site
http://nt2.uqam.ca/en/expositions/transcreation
aarea.co's Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/aarea.co/posts/1183114978824316
