ENG-ITA
The Sicilian Family, 2012-2013. Sublimation print on aluminum. 44 elements. X:306cm; Y:95cm overall
The Sicilian Family is composed of 44 digital elaborations of vintage analog photographs. All the original pictures belonged to my family’s collection of photographs, and many of them portray relatives who had died before I was born. Initially I decided to scan each image to preserve them from deterioration. Then I opened each file with Notepad++, trying to visualize the photo as text. The pixels of the image were translated into the alphanumeric ASCII code. This code is a non-intelligible sequence of characters that contains all the information required to recreate the image through an Image Viewer. Using Notepad++, I substituted a part of the ASCII code of each photograph with a story based on what I had come to learn about each person portrayed. The text is, in part, the memories that were passed down to me, and, in part, my own interpretation. Then I saved the text as a JPG, forcing it to become an image once again. My alteration forces my memories to coexist with the image in an unforeseeable and new way.
EXHIBITIONS
- (2021) Palazzo del Governatore. Abecedario d’artista, curated by TØRØ, Parma, Italy
- (2021) (Solo Exhibition) Modern Art Base. rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me): Errors, Limits and Malfunctions, curated by Ramdom and ArtHub Asia, Shanghai, China
- (2018) Provisional Gallery, As If, curated by Ziying Duan, San Francisco, US
- (2016) Re-Building the Future, curated by Marco Pierini in collaboration with Laura Barreca, Claudia Loffelholz and Andrea Bruciati, Ex Chiesa dei Cavalieri di Malta, Siracusa, Italy
- (2013) Fondazione Studio Marangoni, Lapsus, curated by Marinella Paderni, Florence, Italy
- (2013) PAC (Pinebox Art Center), New Frontiers, curated by Vincent Valerio, Baltimore MD, US
- (2013) Fonlad – Digital Arts Festival, curated by IC Zero Association, Videolab and Cooperative Castles Theatre, UAVM Virtual Museum, WAC (Web Art Center) and Space for Arts, Media & Performances, Coimbra, Portugal
- (2012) alt/, curated by José Esteban Muñoz, Gallery 360, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, US
- (2012) Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, 96ma Collettiva Giovani Artisti, curated by Angela Vettese e Stefano Coletto, Galleria di Piazza S.Marco, Venice, Italy
Other:
- The complete installation (ed. 2/3) was acquired as part of the Emilia-Romagna regional heritage art collection.
- Presented during the talk “Computative Metamorphosis” at Expressive 2015, Idea Chain, (2015) curated by Angus Forbes and Anil Camci, Incubation Center of Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
- Premio Combat Prize, (2013), curated by Andrea Bruciati, special mention from the Jury
- Premio Lapsus, (2013), curated by Marinella Paderni, second prize
- Featured in Imago Tour – Sicily, (2013), curated by Graziella Russo and Rosario Leotta, online gallery
- Featured in OP3NR3PO Glitch Moment/ums, (2013), coded by and developed by Joseph ‘Yølk’ Chiocchi & Nick Briz, online publication for Furtherfield Gallery, London, UK
- Featured in alt/conference, (2013), curated by José Esteban Muñoz, Gallery 360, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- (Preview) Back In The Day, (2012), curated by Distintarte, Zoom Zoom Festival, Noventa Padovana, Italy
(SELECTED) BIBLIOGRAPHY
[INTERVIEW]
Doppiozero
“Glitch: la verità nell’errore. Conversazione con Emilio Vavarella”
Interview by Mauro Zanchi and Sara Benaglia, 5 July 2020. (ita)
[INTERVIEW]
ATP Diary
“Nuove ipotesi di realtà. Intervista con Emilio Vavarella (New hypotheses of reality: interview with Emilio Vavarella)”
Interview by Elena Bordignon, January 2020. (ita-eng)
[PROJECT REVIEW]
ATP Diary
“MNEMOSCOPIO di Emilio Vavarella: un’installazione d’arte pubblica”
by Irene Angenica, March 2020. (ita)
[INTERVIEW]
Exibart
“Digitale Off Limits: intervista a Emilio Vavarella”
Interview by Maria Chiara Wang, July 2020. (ita)
[INTERVIEW]
Objects.
“Glitch, quando l’errore diventa arte. Intervista a Emilio Vavarella”
Interview by Maria Chiara Wang, 2018. (ita)
[PDF | SOURCE | ARCHIVED]
[WRITTEN CONTRIBUTION]
Mnemoscape Magazine: The Anarchival Impulse
“SHOWCASE: Emilio Vavarella, The Sicilian Family”
Edited by Elisa Adami and Alessandra Ferrini,
issue#1, 2014. (eng)
[CURATORIAL TEXT]
Celeste Network
“Error’s Charm – Lapsus Prize”
Critical text by Marinella Paderni, 2013. (ita-eng)
[PRESS COVERAGE]
Flash Art
“Bevilacqua La Masa presenta la 96ma Collettiva Giovani Artisti e i Borsisti della 95ma Collettiva Giovani”
2012. (ita)
[INTERVIEW]
Museo Rimodificato: Art sine Scientia nihil est
“Emilio Vavarella: The Sicilian Family”
interview by Giulia Meloni for Antoni Muntadas Visual Arts Lab at Iuav University of Venice, 2016. (ita)
[PDF]
[EXHIBITION CATALOGUE]
Re-Building the Future
“Emilio Vavarella and The Sicilian Family”
Official Catalogue, 2015. (ita-eng)
[PROJECT]
[ARTICLE]
SottoboscoDigitale: Artisti Digitali Italiani.
“Emilio Vavarella, Questione di Memoria”
by Valeria Crisafulli, 2018 (ita)
[EXHIBITION CATALOGUE]
Official Catalogue – 95ma Collettiva Giovani Artisti
“Emilio Vavarella”
pp.50-51, 2012. (ita)
[PROJECT]
[INTERVIEW]
Digicult.
“Thought is my Main Medium. Interview with Emilio Vavarella | Il pensiero è il mio medium principale. Intervista con Emilio Vavarella”
by Giada Totaro, July 2020. (ita-eng)
[SOURCE (ita) | SOURCE (eng) | ARCHIVED]
[INTERVIEW]
Loosenart
“Glitch: The Truth in the Error. A Conversation with Emilio Vavarella”
by Sara Benaglia and Mauro Zanchi, August 2020. (eng)
[SOURCE (eng) | ARCHIVED]
[INTERVIEW]
Artribune
“Tessitura, memoria e tecnologia. Intervista a Emilio Vavarella”
by Cecilia Pavone, September 2020. (ita)
[SOURCE (ita) | ARCHIVED]
[INTERVIEW / BOOK]
Metafotografia, Vol.2. Le mutazioni delle immagini
“Intervista 25: Emilio Vavarella”
Edited by Mauro Zanchi and Sara Benaglia (eds.) Skinnerbox, Jesi (Italy), 2020, pp. 112-117. (ita-eng).
[BOOK]
Arte e tecnologia del terzo millennio. Scenari e protagonisti [Art and Technology in the Third Millennium: Landscapes and Protagonists]
Catricalà, Valentino and Cesare Biasini Selvaggi, I Quaderni della Collezione Farnesina, Vol. II, Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2020. (ita-eng)
[PDF ]
[EXHIBITION REVIEW]
ATP Diary
“L’arte come messaggera di possibilità. Emilio Vavarella in mostra ad Arthub, Shanghai”
Elena Bordignon talks with Davide Quadrio, 12 Jan 2021. (ita)
[PROJECTS REVIEW]
Neural
“MNEMOSCOPIO and rs548049170_1_69869_TT (The Other Shapes of Me)”
by Alessandro Ludovico, Issue 67, Autumn 2020. (eng)
[PDF | PROJECT (1) | PROJECT (2)]
[MA THESIS]
NABA – Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti
“Emilio Vavarella: Esseri Umani, Tecnologia e Memoria”
by Amico, Chiara. Missing the Signal. MA Thesis in Fashion and Textile Design. NABA: Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, Advisor: Andrea Cammarosano, 2023, pp-122-142. (ita)
[PDF]