March 7, 2011
Turbulence Commission: "Les Belles Infidèles" by Ethan Ham
http://turbulence.org/works/belles
"Les Belles Infidèles" consists of a short story -- written
specifically for this project by Benjamin Rosenbaum -- that has been
translated and retranslated by more than 40 translators into 15
languages. The project is an exploration of the story's compounding
mutation as the translators attempt to make it work in different
languages and cultures. The term "les belles infidèles" comes from a
17th century quip by Gilles Ménage in which he compared a set of
translations to an acquaintance of his: beautiful but unfaithful. The
phrase has come to express the tension between making a translation
seem natural in the target language versus keeping it as close as
possible to the original text.
The project's source code is available under a GNU Affero General
Public License and the original short story can be used under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 license.
"Les Belles Infidèles" is a 2011 commission of New Radio and
Performing Arts, Inc. for its Turbulence website. It was made
possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
BIOGRAPHY
The influence of Ethan Ham's former career in game development can be
seen in the art he makes. The artworks are often playful and
demonstrate his continuing interest in the interaction between an
artwork and its beholder. Ethan is a sculptor and installation artist
who often explores themes of translation and mutation. His projects
include literary/art hybrids, kinetic sculptures, and internet-based
artworks. He has been commissioned by Turbulence.org (Tumbarumba and
Self-Portrait), The Present Group (Anthroptic), and Rhizome.org
(Email Erosion). Ethan is an Assistant Professor of New Media at The
City College of New York.
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Co-Director
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