Artist Reception for Yucef Merhi
May 13, 2005
Opening Reception
Friday, May 13, 2005 5:00-7:00 PM
Poetry and electronic media merge in the Orange Lounge with
Poetic Engineering, a solo exhibition of works by new media artist Yucef Merhi. Born in Venezuela, in 1977 and now based in New York and Caracas, Merhi was trained as both an artist and a poet. In his works, electronic devices, internet projects, computer installations, and video game systems are transformed into artworks that incorporate the artist's written words.
Some of the works included in Poetic Engineering are from Merhi's Atari Poetry series, in which he programs and manufactures videogames for the classic Atari 2600 console, as a means of exploring the creative connections between technology and language. The programs he develops turn a TV screen into a site for the presentation of his interactive short poems. In Super Atari Poetry, 2005, a new work being created for the exhibition, three Atari 2600 modules will allow visitors to play and create hundreds of poems. In another work titled The Poetic Clock 2.0, 2002, a digital clock converts time into poetry. With every hour, minute, and second corresponding with a verse that changes when the time changes, The Poetic Clock 2.0 generates 86,400 different poems every day.
Poetic Engineering is organized by Irene Hofmann, Curator of
