NABA is glad to announce the publication of “The Electric Rectangle”, the fourth volume of the NABA Insights book series, published by Quodlibet, curated by Guido Tattoni, NABA Dean, and Italo Rota, NABA Scientific Advisor, available starting on June 7th.
Edited by Guido Tattoni, “The Electric Rectangle” is a novel by author and NABA lecturer Simone Sarasso, with the collaboration of Camilla Carusi, Beatrice Lenzi, Valeria Remondi, Emma Zoe Rossi, enriched by the hyper-textual contributions by Amos Bianchi, Course Leader of NABA MA in New Technologies for Arts, Vincenzo Cuccia, Course Leader of the BA in Media Design and Multimedia Arts, Emanuele Lomello, Course Leader of the BA in Creative Technologies, Italo Rota and Guido Tattoni, in the form of observations on theory, sound, and images.
“The Electric Rectangle” is a coming-of-age story about a professor, his colleagues and students as they gravitate around an artificial intelligence-based installation and happening. From brainstorming to hardware/software testing and ultimately the premiere, the students and professor take notes, fantasize, learn and share their stories. The tale’s original polyphony explodes out of book form into a variety of inter- and hyper- textual/media reading paths. The book is also enriched with commentaries and illustrations, veritable vanishing lines that make this experimental novel an original and unique combination of writing, creative and otherwise, to present readers with further avenues of inquiry.
The novel is grafted with a series of commentaries and illustrations to explore its underlying meanings. Through the use of symbols the reader is led to Guido Tattoni’s commentary on the novel’s academic and formative dimensions; to Amos Bianchi’s explanation of terms in the text; to the hypothetical Director’s notes, penned by Emanuele Lomello and illustrated by concept designer and NABA lecturer Antony Kevin Montanari; to the comic strips by Vincenzo Cuccia and comic book artist Vincenzo Filosa; to the QR codes at the start of each chapter, making the book’s cross-media approach apparent, that offer access to soundscapes created by Guido Tattoni specially for the sound experience.
The “The Electric Rectangle” is part of the editorial series NABA Insights that comprises the concept books collecting the Academy’s reflections. NABA Insights also includes “Theatre Dictionary”, edited by Margherita Palli, Course Advisor Leader of the BA in Set Design, “Designing a spoon to change the city” by Claudio Larcher, NABA Design Area Leader, and Valentina Dalla Costa, Course Advisor Leader of Design Area MAs, and “Utopian Display. Geopolitical Curating” edited by Marco Scotini, NABA Visual Arts Department Head.
