Drawing the Land's Memory
Live audio-reactive video installation, handmade portfolio containing Risograph printed plates of eight poems in visual notation, and a 20-page chapbook in an edition of 10
Collaborators:
Katja Novak, Poet and Translator, Ukrainian Cultural Center, Tallinn, Estonia
Brett Terry, Software Developer and Audio Engineer
Connecticut College Faculty Art Exhibition, Cummings Arts Center, October, 2024
XXVI Generative Art Conference, Venice, Italy, December 2024
16th International Conference of the Estonian Association of Comparative Literature. World Poetry Today: Production, Translation, Reception (EVKA), panel presentation, October 2025
Drawing the Land’s Memory is a study of translation from the spoken word to visual notation. The work is composed of a collection of eight poems, originally written in Ukrainian by Katja Novak. The poems inform a series of multimedia works including an audio-reactive live video installation, a portfolio containing the poems’ visual notation, and a chapbook. Novak’s poetic recitations are transformed into dynamic visualizations, inspired by topographic maps.
Processing software captures auditory features such as volume, intonation, and pauses to generate real-time visual interpretations exploring the intersection of place, language, and visual form.
This work was a collaboration between visual artist Andrea Wollensak, Ukrainian poet and translator Katja Novak, and with Brett Terry, a software developer and audio engineer.
This project originated in Tallinn, Estonia in 2023 as part of Wollensak’s Fulbright Scholar grant. The work is supported by the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, the Estonian Literature Center, and the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Tallinn.
