Alex Caldiero Explained

Alissandru Francesco "Alex" Caldiero (born 1949) is a poet, and intermedia.

Life

Caldiero was born in the ancient town of Licodia Eubea, near Catania, Sicily, in 1949. He 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 - including Isaac Caldiero and Sara Caldiero - shortly after converting to Mormonism,^[1] and is poet/artist-in-residence at Utah Valley University.^[2] His work has been reviewed by The Village Voice and The New York Times and he is included in A Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes.^[3]

Publications

Anthologies

• Text-Sound Texts, Richard Kostelanetz, ed., Morrow, New York, 1980. pp. 412–417

Exhibitions

• Performing the Book: Caldiero's "The Food that Fits the Hunger". Salt Lake Arts Center, Utah. 1995.^[4]
• After the Tree Had Fallen: Recent works and collaborations. Alex Caldiero & Frank McIntyre. Limited edition catalog. Marshall Studios.2003.^{[5] [6]}

Performances

Caldiero has performed at the Utah Arts Festival, several times on National Public Radio^{[7] [8]} 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 Allen 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,^[9] an ensemble that describes their music as "psychodelicious music". Caldiero intones his poetry while the band plays.

Films and documentaries

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

Audio/video

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 with music by Theta Nought. CD. Differential Records. 2006.^[10]
• Na Lacrima, audiofile^[11]

External links

• PRX
• Poetry Month: 'Poetry is Wanted Here'
• The Sonosopher

Notes and References

1. https://www.pbs.org/mormons/themes/whyiam.html#caldiero "Why I Am Mormon"
2. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705268648/Poets-reading-elicits-laughs-and-scoffs-from-UVU-crowd.html "Poet's reading elicits laughs and scoffs from UVU crowd"
3. Book: Richard Kostelanetz. H. R. Brittain. A Dictionary of the Avant-gardes. Psychology Press. 2001. 104. 9780415937641.
4. http://research.uvsc.edu/abbott/Publications/Performing%20the%20Book%20Alex%20Caldiero.htm Publications. Performing the Book
5. Dave Gagon. (September 21, 2003). Exhibit is delightfully intriguing Deseret News
6. http://research.uvsc.edu/abbott/Publications/Afterthetreehadfallen.htm Publications. After the Tree Had Fallen
7. https://hearingvoices.com/stories.php?fID=45&fidType=producer "Stories: Alex Caldiero – Wordshakers"
8. https://www.npr.org/2004/04/27/1853243/hearing-voices-poet-writer-performance-artist "Hearing Voices: Poet, Writer, Performance Artist"
9. Web site: Alex Caldiero with Theta Naught. February 26, 2007. Flickr.
10. Web site: Theta Naught & Alex Caldiero – Sound Weave | Review | Scene Point Blank.
11. https://web.archive.org/web/20111004070359/http://www.csssstrinakria.org/Nalacrima.mp3 Na Lacrima