Alex Caldiero



Alex Caldiero (b. Alissandru Francesco Caldiero) is a poet, polyartist, sonosopher, and scholar of humanities and intermedia.



Life
Born in the ancient town of Licodia Eubea, near Catania, Sicily, in 1949, Alex immigrated to the United States at age nine and was raised in Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York. He attended Queens College in Flushing, New York, and was apprenticed to the sculptor Michael Lekakis and the poet-bard Ignazio Buttitta. Caldiero has traveled through Sicily, Sardinia, Turkey, and Greece collecting proverbs, tales, and folk instruments. He is co-founder of Arba Sicula, the society for the preservation of the Sicilian language and traditions, and is the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Utah Performing Arts Tour, and the Best Poetry Award from the Association for Mormon Letters. Caldiero has lived in Utah since 1980 with his wife and children, and is Poet/Artist in Residence at Utah Valley University. Caldiero's work has been reviewed by Village Voice and The New York Times and he is included in "A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes" on page 104.

Exhibitions / Exhibition Catalogs

 * LOST & FOUND: An Archeological Composition. Salt Lake Art Center, SLC, UT, 1987.
 * DREAMS & SHIELDS: Spiritual Dimensions in Contemporary Art. Salt Lake Art Center, SLC, UT, 1992.
 * THE UNCLOSED HAND. Community Press, SLC, UT, 1994.
 * PERFORMING THE BOOK: Caldiero's The Food that Fits the Hunger. SLC, UT.1995.
 * WESTWARD BOUND: An Exhibition Celebrating Book Arts in the West.
 * Mariott Library, University of Utah, SLC, UT. 2000.
 * AFTER THE TREE HAD FALLEN: Recent works and collaborations. Alex Caldiero & Frank McIntyre. Limited edition catalog. Marshall Studios.2003.

Performances
Alex Caldiero has performed at the Utah Arts Festival, several times on National Public Radio ,, on the Poetry Bus Tour in 2006, at The New School for Social Research, the Pritchard Art Gallery, the Salt Lake Art Center, Utah Valley University, the Kiva Koffeehouse in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and on Brazilian TV.

His notable performance of Ginsberg's Howl on the 50th Anniversary its first reading drew a record poetry crowd at a local book store.

Recently, Caldiero has performed together with various members of Theta Naught, an ensemble that describes their music as "Psychodelicious Music". Alex intones his poetry while the band plays.

Selected Performative Works
Legend: ^ solo or multi-performers; {collaborations; [site specific
 * INVITATION TO MULTIPLICITY: Performance in multimedia installation. Salt Lake Art Center, SLC, UT, 1987.^
 * RED ROCKS TALK: Participations in environment as re-creation area. Coyote Gulch, Utah wilderness, 1988.[
 * IN TWO SEAS: Language performance/dance.Utah Academy of Arts & Letters. University of Utah, SLC, 1992.^
 * HUNGER FOR AN UNKNOWN FOOD: Language performance. Brigham Young University Performing Arts Series. Madsen Recital Hall, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 1992.^
 * DAY IS DONE: Children's radio. Language/sound explorations. KRCL in SLC, UT, 1993-1995.{
 * FRAGILE ECOLOGIES: Contemporary Artists' Interpretations & Solutions. Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Series (SITES). Transenvironmental performance. Salt Lake Art Center, SLC, UT, 1993.[
 * CONFESSIONS. Dance/word collaborations. The Space for Dance, Boulder, Colorado, 1993.{
 * IN WINDS OF SAND. Voice/drum soundtrack, w/dance by Maida Withers & mixed-media sculpture by Maria Theresa Fernandes. Marvin Center Theater, Washington, D.C., 1993.{, [
 * OUTSIDE DANCE. Dance/music/word collaborations. Performance in the Wasatch landscape. SLC, 1995/96.{,[
 * HOWL: 40th anniversary performance of Ginsberg=s Howl. Left Bank Gallery, SLC, Oct.,1995.^,{
 * CHARMING THE ANTELOPES. Transenvironmental performance w/ICEBURN Collective and improvised installations by Scott Carrier. Puddle Valley, west desert, UT, 1996.{,[
 * A POETRY SWEAT. Text/language act. Feature performance at Utah Arts Festival, SLC, 1997.^
 * SPHOTA PROBE. Language act w/installation AEncountering Energy@ by Trent Alvey. Art Barn, SLC, UT.1998.^,{
 * BONES & LOVE POEMS. Text-performance w/installation by the same name as part of ALove in Hell@ Contemporary Artists Reflect on Orpheus and Eurydice. Salt Lake Art Center. 2000.^
 * SQUAT. Language act. The Proving Ground concert series. Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, SLC. 2000.^
 * JUST BEFORE SUNSET. Transenvironmental performance. Antelope Island, UT. 2002.^,[
 * WORDS FOR WORDS. Language Act. Cordell Taylor Gallery. Denver, CO. 2002.^
 * SAID Z. Language act w/installation of visual responses by Alex Bigney. Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID. 2002, and at the Kimball Art Center, Park City, UT. 2003.^,{
 * INTERPLAY: Intransitive Senses. Telematic cinema performance produce by Another Language Performing Arts Company. Computer/word/music/dance collaboration. Directed by Jimmy Miklavic and performed with Elizabeth Miklavcic, Hanelle Miklavcic; Harold Carr, Flavia Cervino-Wood, Kate Macleod and Sam Liston. University of Utah Intermountain Networking & Scientific Computation Center. Salt Lake City, UT. 2003.^,{
 * BETWEEN FOLKLORE AND AVANT-GARDE: Touring Performance/lecture. Gruppo Folk ACampidano@ di Quartucciu e Comune di Quartucciu, presso Casa Angioni, Quartucciu, Sardegna; Circolo Culturale AGiacomo Giardinia@ e L=Unitre. Bagheria, Sicilia; Centro Studi Storico-Sociali Siciliani e Circolo Unificato Ufficiale e Sottufficiali, Catania, Sicilia. 2003.^
 * SPHOTA PROBE (Take 2). The 9th Improvisation Festival. With choreography/dance by Maida Withers and music ensemble. George Washington University, Washington DC. 2003.{
 * LIGHT FROM A DIFFERENT SUN: Sicilian Language Poetry Recital. Utah Valley State College, Orem, UT.2004.^
 * A YEAR FROM LATER: Recent Works & Quirks. Ken Sanders Rare Books, SLC. 2003 and Utah State University, Logan, UT. 2004.^
 * HOWL BY ALLEN GINSBERG. 50th anniversary performance. Great Salt Lake Book Festival. SLC. 2005.^
 * THE BEAT GENERATION AND THE POWER OF EXPRESSION: O.C. Tanner Symposium. Featuring “Semina Culture: Wallace Berman and His Circle,” a traveling exhibit, including readings/performances by Alex Caldiero, Bill Berkson, Michael McClure, David Meltzer, & Ann Waldman. Utah State University, Logan, UT. 2006.^
 * ITALIAN POETS, PAST & PRESENT. Sonosophical recitations from Dante, Cavalcanti, Petrarca, da Lentini, Leopardi, Ungaretti, Quasimodo, F.T. Marinetti, & Antonio Porta. Italian Center of the West, SLC, UT. 2006.^

Films and Documentaries

 * Plan 10 from Outer Space (1994, Trent Harris)
 * Chloes Blanket 1996, (Lory Smith)
 * This Divided State 2005, (Steven Greenstreet)
 * The Mormons Part I 2007 (PBS documentary)
 * ''The Sonosopher: Alex Caldiero in Life...in Sound (2010, Torben Bernhard and Travis Low))

Books

 * MONAD. Clown War broadside, NYC, 1974.
 * FROM STONE TO STAR. Incurve Press, NYC, 1977.
 * LU LATTI DI LA MATRI/The Milk of the Mother. CSSSS, Catania, Sicily, 1980.
 * OR, BOOK O' LIGHTS. Limited edition, artist book, 1993.
 * Various Atmospheres. Signature Books, SLC, UT, 1998
 * ILLEGIBLE TATTOOS. Limited edition, letter press artist book. Meyer & Liechty, Lindon, UT. 1999.
 * AH-BH-GH. Limited edition, letter press artist book. Kinde Nebeker, Salt Lake City, UT. 1999.
 * BODY/DREAMS/ORGANS. Elik Press. SLC. 2005

Anthologized

 * TEXT-SOUND TEXTS, Richard Kostelanetz, ed., Morrow, NY, 1980. ISBN 0-688-03616-3 pp. 412-417
 * ASSEMBLING ANTHOLOGY, Richard Kostelanetz, ed., NYC.
 * UTAH: STATE OF THE ARTS, Trudy McMurrin, ed., Meridian International, Ogden, UT, 1993.
 * DICTIONARY OF THE AVANT-GARDES, Richard Kostelanetz, ed., Routhledge, London/NY. 2001.

Literary Magazines

 * Clown War (Clwn Wr), Gyro, Flute, Hand Book, Arte e Folklore di Sicilia, Maledicta, Arba Sicula Review,
 * Screens & Tasted Parallels, Poor Roberts Almanac, Canyon Echo.

Videotapes

 * SANDSCYCLES, Meditation video (sound track/performance). With choreography and Earth Spirit Process by Maida Rust Withers. Produced by Verabel Cluff, 1992.
 * THE JOURNEY TWO STEPS LONG: Language Performance Works. Produced by Brandon Kiggins, University of Utah, 1993.
 * WORDS: EXTERIOR/INTERIOR. Language Acts. Produced by Steve W. Olpin. 1999.

Audio Tapes / CDs

 * DREAM TRACTS: A Transenvironmental performance. Audiotape. Produced by Scott Carrier, 1992.
 * ENSPHERED: transenvironment1. Audiotape. Produced by Scott Carrier. 1993.
 * ILLEGIBLE TATTOOS. Words/voice/drum. CD. Produced and performed by Alex Caldiero. 1998.
 * SPHOTA PROBE. Sonosophical/text works. CD. Produced by Mike Collins. 1999.
 * PIECES IN PLACES: Transenvironmental performances. CD. 2002.
 * From SOUND MIND: Acts of Language. CD. 2003.
 * SOUND WEAVE. Word-music album w/ music by Theta Nought. CD. Differential Records. 2006.
 * NA LACRIMA: Audiofile - http://www.csssstrinakria.org/Nalacrima.mp3