Matthew Mottel & Edwin Torres

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

g e o d e s i c   l i n g u i x ;

Charas as Infinite Thought Object

The history of dome building on the Lower East Side goes back to when CHARAS built domes in collaboration with Buckminster Fuller in 1972/73. Syeus Mottel documented this effort in his photojournalism book CHARAS; THE IMPROBABLE DOME BUILDERS, first published in 1973 and now re-published in 2018 by Song Cave Press & Pioneer Works.

On 1.9.19, The Poetry Project, will stage a performative action between artist, and researcher Matthew Mottel and poet Edwin Torres. Torres has been an active member of the Loisaida community since the 90’s, where he’s performed his ‘lingualisualist’ poetics, rooted in sight and sound, at many iconic venues. Mottel, has been a member of the experimental arts community of New York City since the late 1990’s.

In interviewing Chino Garcia (co-founder of CHARAS), Matthew was told that one of the domes CHARAS built in the 1970’s was portable and used as sites for experimental performance. In this spirit,Mottel and Torres will perform in and around a Geodesic Dome built inside the Poetry Project.

Mottel will screen a documentary video on the history of CHARAS’s dome building activity. And Torres will perform from his recent book, “XOETEOX: THE INFINITE WORD OBJECT” (Wave Books) within a sonically & visually-charged geodesic environment.

As the finale of the evening, the two will collaborate in and around the dome. This event will further expand the narrative of CHARAS’s original dome actions, to pair with contemporary performance and poetics, and to champion new forms with new content. This collaboration was facilitated by The Loisaida Center, who introduced the artists and hosted Mottel’s exhibition ‘Charas is alive on Spaceship Earth’ in May – June 2018.

This event is co-sponsored by The Loisaida Center and The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

 

Matthew Mottel

Matthew Mottel (born 1981, New York, NY) is an artist, performer and writer. Matthew researches political and cultural histories to ameliorate the relationships between archival historical documents and their contemporary context. These investigations often are in the form of sculpture, intermedia art installation and performance; creating unique environments for archival media to exist within. Matthew was an Artist In Residence At Issue Project Room in 2010 and an LMCC Swing Space Recipient in 2011.  He has presented work at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Kitchen, New York; Deitch Projects, New York; All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival; London and Moers Music, Germany.

He received in 2003, a B.A at SUNY New Paltz, his degree in Political & Cultural Studies. He presented his thesis exhibition towards an M.F.A. at City College’s Digital Intermedia Art Practice program in 2018 with graduation in 2019.

Edwin Torres

Edwin Torres is a NYC native whose books include, XoeteoX: the infinite word object (Wave Books), Ameriscopia (University of Arizona Press), and The PoPedology of an Ambient Language (Atelos Books). Anthologies include: American Poets in the 21st Century: Poetics of Social Engagement, Who Will Speak For America, Angels of the Americlypse: New Latin@ Writing, and Aloud; Voices From The Nuyorican Poets Café. Recent collaborations include; Sowndhauz-an electro-lingo duo with Matt Harle, Poex-a collection of sound pieces created with Stephen Vitiello, and Resurrection-a site-specific installation performance with Julie Carr. He is editor of the forthcoming anthology from Counterpath Press entitled, The Body In Language: An Anthology.

Related Posts