In Nora Turato’s virtuosic performances, spoken word, graphic design, and bookmaking are intertwined to explore the possibilities of language in a culture oversaturated with information. Turato collects words and phrases from a range of sources: the Internet, media headlines, advertisements, conversations, books, commercial products, and her own thoughts. pool 5—which takes the form of a performance and a book—assembles and arranges these pools of text into a growing script that Turato memorizes and performs, alternating rhythm and intonation, voices and modes. She speaks loudly and boldly, disrupting the archetype of a soft-spoken woman and touching on themes from politics to entertainment to sex.

The previous work in Turato’s series, titled pool 4, was scheduled to open on May 6, 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the meantime, the Amsterdam-based artist collected new texts and phrases, and will present pool 5 in the Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Studio. The publication presented in the space serves simultaneously as prop, set, exhibition, archive, and artist’s book.