NABA brings to Milan, from April 4 to 7, within the spaces of the Fabbrica del Vapore at Via Procaccini 4, "PLAI", an innovative exhibition-playground curated by Michele Aquila (Master of Arts in Creative Media Production Course Leader), which will showcase the projects of students from the Master of Arts in Creative Media Production. Within it, digital meets analogue in a dynamic workshop of experimentation with the support of the Bachelor of Arts in Set Design and with the contributions of the Bachelor of Arts in Film and Animation, further anticipating the dialogue between bodily practices and innovative technologies that will characterise the new Master of Arts in Digital and Live Performance at NABA.
“PLAI” part of the exceptional roster of “NABA Media Explorer” dissemination, is a playground where projects and ideas intertwine, exploring the boundaries between the physical and digital, the material and the immaterial, in a constant search for new forms of expression. An unprecedented mediascape where everything is possible, which, through multimedia installations and video art, documentaries, and projects in Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, performances, laboratories, and workshops, represents a not-to-be-missed opportunity to probe the avant-garde experimentation in the creative domain and to envisage new forms of exhibition. Not merely an exhibition, therefore, but "the prototype of a school in perpetual becoming" (Michele Aquila).
"PLAI”, the exhibition-playground: the opening with installations and live set
The opening of "PLAI", on Thursday, April 4 at 5:30 PM, will come alive at 7.30 PM with Codex Naturae, a live set curated by Giorgio Sancristoforo (NABA lecturer), who has developed, at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, a system for the numerical translation and sonorisation of the nucleotide sequences of DNA called "phonosomic code", an algorithm that utilises the genome as a programming language for a multimedia performance.
Among the works on display, the result of the collaboration with Careof, a non-profit organisation for contemporary art, stands out. Born from an idea by Lorenza Pignatti (writer and NABA lecturer) and Michele Aquila, the collaboration led to the creation of a multimedia installation in which students from the Digital Applications for Art course, guided by lecturers Vinicio Bordin, Filippo Marta, Paolo Ranieri, and Rino Stefano Tagliafierro (from the multimedia design studio Karmachina), analysed a selection of materials of Careof's video archive. The installation juxtaposes different imaginaries: that of the association's founder, Mario Gorni, who used video to document the Italian art scene, and that of today's twenty-year-olds, who use generative artificial intelligence software and special effects to highlight the decay of images recorded on VHS. The video and audio sources narrate exhibitions realized, from the seventies to today, by artists and curators Grazia Toderi, Nico Vascellari, Germano Celant, Marina Abramovic, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Maria Gloria Bicocchi, and Alfredo Jaar, among others. The project was realised in collaboration with Marta Bianchi and Marta Cereda (Careof directors).
"PLAI”, the exhibition-playground: workshops, seminars, talks, and performances
From April 5 to 7, “PLAI” comes to life with an intensive programme of workshops, seminars, and talks with, among others, Alina Marazzi, Simone Santilli, Jennifer Malvezzi, Alessandro Chessa, Riccardo Baccani, Mattia Papa, Voiseed, Ilenia Caleo, Chiara Organtini, Lucia Franchi, Valentina Kastlunger, Simone Frangi, Martin Romeo, Guido Tattoni, aimed at exploring the evolution of digital production, offering NABA students, lecturers, and some special guests from the Academy the opportunity to participate in events on VR, gaming, expanded cinema, and artificial intelligence. The activities on Saturday, April 6, for instance, will focus on languages, media, and the multidisciplinary nature of performing arts, capable of tackling research, creation, and design by questioning contemporary places and themes through dramaturgy, the body, new technologies, and sound design, culminating at 6 PM with a performance by Fabien Prioville and Francesca Ciaffoni, Showing on Digital Liveness, an immersive experience that will involve the audience in exploring the significance of the human body in an increasingly digital landscape, realised thanks to the most innovative skills and technologies of the Media Design and New Technologies Area Labs at NABA under the guidance of Emanuele Lomello (Media Laboratory Manager).
"PLAI", the exhibition-playground: the work of the students
Students manage the setup of “PLAI” under the supervision of lecturers Filippo Marta and Francesca Guarnone (Bachelor of Arts in Set Design). The same students from the Master of Arts in Creative Media Production worked on various aspects of the exhibition, including the visual identity and the extensive programme of talks and workshops supervised by lecturer Eleonora Roaro.
The exhibition will also be live online thanks to an immersive catalogue curated by student Yue Zhao, accessible through the online platform New Art City
“PLAI”: event details
From Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 April
April 4 at 5:30 PM: Opening (last admission at 8:30 PM); April 5: from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM; April 6: from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM; April 7: from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
At Fabbrica del Vapore, Spazio Ex Cisterne, Via Procaccini 4, Milan
Access to the exhibition and all events is free with mandatory reservation on Eventbrite