Matteucci’s work explores overwhelming data and random noise that surrounds modern humanity. These  images of a prior installation hint at the complexity to be expected at AGENDA. 

Just as the river where I step 

is not the same, and is, 

so I am as I am not. 

—Heraclitus 

AGENDA is pleased to announce its ninth exhibition, Noah  Matteucci: random [8] from November 13, 2021 – December 12, 2021  

random (8) is an installation of woodblock prints combining digital technology with analog  printmaking. Matteucci writes looping algorithms that generate images of noise — randomized  pixelated grids. These grids are physically mapped by hand onto a printing matrix using  woodblocks, and once set, are inked and printed on paper with a table-top etching press. The  title of the work, random (8), refers to the function in the code that generates random numbers  (1 to 8) which are used to assign the color of each pixel/woodblock: 1 = cyan, 2 = magenta, 3 =  yellow, 4 = black, etc. The printmaking is just an extension of the code — the performance of an  analog algorithm — every print made is an iteration of the loop. 

For Matteucci, the process outweighs the outcome and the outcome is arbitrary. With every print  there are a seemingly infinite number of possible arrangements, and the repetitive and absurd  Sisyphean task of attempting to print all of them becomes an obsession. What results is visual overload that tends to make the viewer aware of the plethora of data that inundates daily  modern life. The sheer volume of work within the diminutive space initially overwhelms the  visitor but can be leaned into until awe gives way to calm. This painstaking and lengthy process  of installation deserves an in-person pilgrimage as photo documentation cannot represent the  experience of being enveloped in this organized chaos. 

Noah Matteucci is a printmaker living and working in Vancouver, WA. During the day he works  in the Fine Arts Department at WSU Vancouver and at night he makes prints in a little studio  located in the bowels of his house — a space that many people would describe as a basement.  

Read more about the artist here: noahmatteucci.com 

Read more about AGENDA here https://agenda-pdx.com/about/ 

When: 3-6PM, Saturday 11/13/21, continuing Wednesdays – Sundays 11-4 until 12/12/21 Cost: Free. Beverages provided. 

Follow: @agenda.pdx, @noahmatteucci