This work emerged as part of WORD+MOIST PRESS, a publishing imprint developed by artist Juan Pablo Macías (Puebla, 1974) and focused on the publication of texts of anarchist and libertarian thought. Since 2014, through that label, and as with other works, Macías has sought to raise resources from the art world, its market and institutions, to finance and circulate the proposals of that political doctrine in the public discussion. For the artist, the work of art is understood as a residue of the transaction between these spheres.
The imprint's second title, published in 2015, was the Spanish translation of "Problems of the Hour in Nine Brief Studies", an 1896 text by civil engineer Albert Kimsey Owen, who in addition to working on the Pacific Railroad deep-drafting project, in 1886 promoted the founding of the Pacific Colony, a socialist community in Topolobampo, Sinaloa, which eventually grew to 500 inhabitants. Owen's text, where he elaborates a critique of property and labor conditions in capitalism, is a sample of the approaches that ed his project. The current version includes historical photographs of the colony and a contemporary prologue by writer and visual artist César Cortés Vega.
In the unfolding of this project as an installation, Macias includes a video where he follows Owen's trail in Topolobampo and shows him in his print shop. The images are also intertwined with those of the editorial process of the re-edition and the interpretation of the music conceived especially for the project by the artist in collaboration with Gonzalo Macias. A copper stamp with the legend "Univ Calif - Digitalized by Microsoft®" and a photograph of the brand affixed to an arm are included with the video and a copy of the chained book. By drawing attention to the phrase, which comes from the watermark of the digital version of the book and indicates the ownership of the rights by the University of California, the contradiction underlying the restrictions on access to a title that questions private property is pointed out.
Juan Pablo Macías learned of Owen's work thanks to his with the Biblioteca Social Reconstruir (Social Library Reconstruct), an archive specialized in anarchist thought that has guided several of his projects. As part of its commitment to the dissemination of that line of thought, other WORD+MOIST PRESS titles include "The Anarchist Doctrine Accessible to All" (José Oiticica, 1925), published in 2014; "Everyday Life and the Culture of the Thing" (Boris Arvatov, 1925), published in 2019; and "Anti in Anarkhiia-Tvorchestvo" (Kazimir Malevich, 1918), also in 2019.
CGV- January, 2022
References
http://zirkumflex.com/studio/problemas-del-momento-en-nueve-estudios-breves
https://www.revlat.com/single-post/pacific-colony-imágenes-de-ira-kneeland-a-la-colonia-socialista-de-topolobampo
https://www.proyectosmonclova.com/exhibitions-gallery/true-story
This work emerged as part of WORD+MOIST PRESS, a publishing imprint developed by artist Juan Pablo Macías (Puebla, 1974) and focused on the publication of texts of anarchist and libertarian thought. Since 2014, through that label, and as with other works, Macías has sought to raise resources from the art world, its market and institutions, to finance and circulate the proposals of that political doctrine in the public discussion. For the artist, the work of art is understood as a residue of the transaction between these spheres.
The imprint's second title, published in 2015, was the Spanish translation of "Problems of the Hour in Nine Brief Studies", an 1896 text by civil engineer Albert Kimsey Owen, who in addition to working on the Pacific Railroad deep-drafting project, in 1886 promoted the founding of the Pacific Colony, a socialist community in Topolobampo, Sinaloa, which eventually grew to 500 inhabitants. Owen's text, where he elaborates a critique of property and labor conditions in capitalism, is a sample of the approaches that ed his project. The current version includes historical photographs of the colony and a contemporary prologue by writer and visual artist César Cortés Vega.
In the unfolding of this project as an installation, Macias includes a video where he follows Owen's trail in Topolobampo and shows him in his print shop. The images are also intertwined with those of the editorial process of the re-edition and the interpretation of the music conceived especially for the project by the artist in collaboration with Gonzalo Macias. A copper stamp with the legend "Univ Calif - Digitalized by Microsoft®" and a photograph of the brand affixed to an arm are included with the video and a copy of the chained book. By drawing attention to the phrase, which comes from the watermark of the digital version of the book and indicates the ownership of the rights by the University of California, the contradiction underlying the restrictions on access to a title that questions private property is pointed out.
Juan Pablo Macías learned of Owen's work thanks to his with the Biblioteca Social Reconstruir (Social Library Reconstruct), an archive specialized in anarchist thought that has guided several of his projects. As part of its commitment to the dissemination of that line of thought, other WORD+MOIST PRESS titles include "The Anarchist Doctrine Accessible to All" (José Oiticica, 1925), published in 2014; "Everyday Life and the Culture of the Thing" (Boris Arvatov, 1925), published in 2019; and "Anti in Anarkhiia-Tvorchestvo" (Kazimir Malevich, 1918), also in 2019.
