Nidus

The body of work entitled Nidus (“nest”) is a single chapter in a vade mecum, and represents the culmination of a process sparked by Antonio Forte’s fascination with physics and Zen Buddhism. Japanese Zen calligraphic techniques (like the gesture used for the ensō, or “circle”) were used to create oil paintings and ink drawings. Realizing that light (color) and sound (music) are both waves of energy moving through a medium, being perceived by the human physiology and psychology, Antonio wrote a physics formula to translate the frequencies of light in the colors of paint into frequencies of sound. These frequencies were then used to create musical compositions.

Antonio Forte studied Fine Art at SACI in Florence, Italy. He holds a BA in Music from American University, in Washington, DC, where he also studied Sculpture. Antonio is on faculty at the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School where he teaches music composition and piano instruction, and teaches 1st through 8th grade music at Quest Montessori School in Narragansett, RI. He resides in Providence, RI, and is a member of The Wurks.
Antonio uses the vade mecum as a vehicle for carrying out visual and sonic processes which examine the minute and fleeting intersections between temporality and spatiality. These intersections are what one may call “moments,” and are instances of change in both time and space. The vade mecum, or “go with me” in Latin, is a personal reference book that is regularly carried around by a person, and is the conceptual precedent and starting point for most of Antonio’s work. Each drawing, painting, sculpture, or musical composition he considers to be a single word, sentence, page, or even an entire chapter, within the confines of a larger entity that is both introspective and interpersonal for its creator.