Tomaso Binga

Gatefold LP, w/ 52 pages book including scans of Tomaso Binga's original poem scores from 1976 to 2023. Italian and English. Offset printing. Limited edition of 350 copies. Opera Poesia is the first comprehensive audio collection of Tomaso Binga's poems performed by the artist. The practice of Tomaso Binga (Bianca Pucciarelli Menna, b. 1931) is embedded in the language of visual and sound poetry, aimed at observing and questioning the idea of gender. Her practice explores the rights, social roles and opportunities traditionally available to women. The masculine pseudonym she adopted in 1970 has since become an indissoluble part of her person, and her artistic and poetic experimentation focused on verbal-visual writing. 

The use of the pseudonym is both an ironic act and a challenge to the gender classification; a kind of mockery of the male privilege present in every field: domestic, professional, and artistic. Her attitude has served to inform the perpetual debate on gender and equality issues, also within younger generations. Binga began making performative actions in the early '70s: her first performance was 'Vista Zero' at Palazzo Comunale in Acireale in 1972. Included in this album are archival images of this performance, in which the artist wears a white dress and covers her head with gauze, leaving only her eyes uncovered. The action consisted in applying cut-out paper eyes to her face until completely covering it, inhibiting her use of sight. In 1976 Binga completed 'Scrittura Vivente': a series of works that have become a fundamental point of her artistic research, composed of letters of the alphabet that are formed by the female body in different positions. The constant attendance in cultural, visual and linguistic areas is an important element in the artist’s practice. Still today she produces object-books, takes part in events of sound poetry and publishes her texts in numerous magazines and poetry books. Tomaso Binga's work constantly challenges the stereotype, linguistic or visual that it is, to divert it, avert it, make it impotent or very powerful for unforeseen purposes. This LP is an opportunity to delve into the language of Tomaso Binga's visual and sound poetry, including 28 of her most iconic “opere-poesie” . 

Villa Lontana Records is an experimental and independent record label based in Rome which focuses on archival and unreleased material from the electronic avant-garde and contemporary sound-art scene. The label is run by Vittoria Bonifati and Michele Ferrari.