READY THOUGHT
Virtual Artist Residency
With Nicolò Minisi
October 2025 – June 2026
An artist residency as part of the Rede Tramontana project, co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe program.
Ready Thought is a project based on the sound archive of the Binaural Nodar Digital Archive, located in the Portuguese region of Viseu Dão Lafões and part of the Tramontana Network.
The work takes the form of a site-specific installation and a unique artist’s book. The work challenges the linguistic barrier between people, treating misunderstanding as a potentially generative space from which something new can emerge.
The phrases that make up the work arise from listening to the sound archive and are reformulated through assonance: sound is transposed into language, losing its original communicative function and opening up new possibilities.
The phrases are printed using white acrylic stencils on felt—a material that lends a sculptural dimension to the soundscape. The book consists of an iron box containing 20 phrases from the ethnographic interviews.
For the site-specific installation, a selection of these phrases is made based on the location.
The felt is then cut to follow the perimeter of the site; once detached, it becomes a mold of the site that can be repositioned in other contexts.
The work reinterprets and connects the site and sound, creating a tension between what is heard and what is read.
The second component of the Ready Thought project is a permanent public sculpture.
The installation Sotto (Sub-soil) consists of a manual excavation carried out in a mountainous area of the Viseu Dão Lafões region.
The excavation, initially outlined as a simple geometric shape, develops in direct relation to the terrain, adapting to its variations and crossing, where present, existing root systems. The roots emerge partially, still immersed in the earth, making visible what normally remains hidden underground.
The ashes from the 2024 fires are reintroduced into the excavation, in a gesture that plays with restitution, deposition, and potential fertilization. This gesture may open the possibility for the soil to welcome new life.
The work does not rise into the space but extends downward, eluding a complete view. What remains is a depression in the ground, emerging roots, irregularly scattered ashes, and an open question:
What continues to exist beneath the surface?
Nicolò Minisi, born in Genoa in 2000 and currently living in Milan, is an emerging Italian artist whose practice spans painting and the visual arts. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA) in Milan, where he graduated with distinction. Minisi’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions throughout Italy, including the 2025 solo exhibition “Tales from the Underground” in Lecce and notable group exhibitions such as “Recombinant Ecologies” at the Parco d’Arte Vivente in Turin and “Voicing the Archive” at the Triennale Milano.
Her art explores themes that resonate with contemporary ecological and urban concerns, often engaging with site-specific contexts and experimental curatorial projects.
Alongside her exhibitions, Minisi has participated in prestigious artist residencies, such as Florìda in Genoa, deepening her engagement with collaborative and interdisciplinary artistic practices.
Her work is included in collections such as those of Studio Florìda, the Società Umanitaria, and the PAV. Minisi has contributed to publications and critical dialogues within the artistic community, collaborating on projects with established curators and artists. Her involvement in workshops and performances, such as those at the Venice Biennale and the Fondazione Antonio Ratti, further highlights her dynamic role in the contemporary Italian art scene.
Binaural Nodar is a cultural organization supported by the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth, and Sports | Directorate-General for the Arts.
