John Giorno Dial-A-Poem Brazil

The Brazilian version of 'Dial-a-Poem' is based on John Giorno’s original work and its original process: poetry readings through the telephone (at a time when telephones were considered new media). Its dynamics concern a permanent sound performance that therefore has the characteristics of spoken word, whose effects act directly on the production of meaning in what is said or narrated.

The context, especially a technological one for the adaptation of Giorno’s work for current times, presents itself with crucial differences if we were to compare it to the context of the original work at the end of the 1960s. Nowadays we not only naturalize communication through our phones but we are also fully adapted to the condition of listeners, whether through social networks, telephone messages, podcasts and audiobooks. And all of these channels are fertile ground for circulating material of different natures, from the most informative (such as news and information channels) to the fictional ones, such as literature, a condition that concerns us for this project.

We have invited 54 poets, artists, researchers and writers to present a reading of a text or poem of their choice. Our curatorial orientation and, consequently, the selection of guests will be guided by the theme of eroticism. The intention is to welcome a plurality of references that are capable of presenting reflections sometimes more explicit about representations related to the body, sexuality, desire, and in other cases it might tend to a more discreet approach. In an attempt to understand how these contemporary voices imagine and reinvent eroticism and thus language and sound performance.

When selecting guests, we sought to respect the most distinct origins, influences, regions, generations and styles, as it is in our best interest to rethink the assimilation and expression of erotic themes in various cultures, even if these cultures might be restricted to Brazilian territory in some way (there may be invitations to foreigners who reside here, that is, researchers and poets whose production can serve, in one way or another, as a reference to the local literary production). The project includes indigenous languages, which are endowed with an expression and capacity of representation very different from our metropolitan one, and for this reason are prone to actively collaborate in our imagination, sometimes limited to what we already know.

Curator: Marcela Vieira