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And ever so briefly: it’s a pretty little number called Publica, the latest in avant gardery from everyone’s favorite trio más criollo, =Desto. This outing, the fab few invited Kristine Serviá to organize an exhibition of publications, largely on the handmade, collaborative, and experimental side. It’s an exhibition that arrives at Calle Américo Salas with a certain inevitability given the island’s impressive graphics tradition and, if you’ll forgive us for saying so for the umpteenth time, its explosive present moment.
Cast your eyes on the jolly opening night crowd. Yes, we agree that momentariness is arguably one of the present scene’s best qualities—“the scene” including such memorable hoots as Agora in Caguas, the art circus at Rumba, the DAMS 2, and whatever else we slept through and wish we hadn’t. But whenever we hear it said that “this stuff won’t last,” we’re increasingly of a mind that that’s the leading fogey piety which not only misses the point of the fun, hyped-up, connected time had by all, but is a much too easy analysis of what’s on hand. In fact, it’s not analysis at all. Visit =Desto before Publica bites the dust, and you’ll see that there is an amazing shitload of work nicely packed into the tiny space. We’re betting you’ll want to dwell over more than one or two projects.
Some cases in point: first above, with scissors and diagrams: Rosemarie Perea’s Cootie Catcher. Next down: Nora Maité Nieves’s art-in-a-plastic-bag, Ai Was Here. Next: the collaborative prints-in-a-box project, La Polilla, involving various artists from La Escuela de Artes Plásticas and spearheaded by Raquel Quijano. Below that: Caja de Voces, poems in a box by Yarisa Colón and Waleska Rivera. Next, to the left: jolly postcards of torture, death, and Puerto Rican journalists being attacked by the FBI, Don’t Be Afraid, Linda, by Teresa López. On the right: a wallful of things from Galería Comercial. Last: an “intervención en papel y estampas” by Odalys Gómez. What we don’t show you are the raggedy fanzines, the t-shirts, the posters, and the indescribable other stuff. There are many noteworthy aspects to Publica, including all the cool ephemera you can carry away with you—posters, postcards, fragrant pieces of wood—plus a loose-leaf catalogue in an envelope. But one of the best parts of the exhibition for us was the chance to sit down with Kristine Serviá and listen to her talk about the show and its aftermath. We are not going to reproduce that conversation for you here because we must, alas, conserve our energies for the arduous biennializing that lies ahead. Suffice it to say for now that Serviá—who herself publishes a handsome magazine of artist’s projects, Aguja—had a very good idea about how to survey the Puerto Rican independent publishing world, embracing everything from creative journalism to experimental poetry and music fandom. She is what you might call pleasantly overwhelmed by the response to the exhibition, and the buzz of connection that it created. If we were wearing a hat we would take it off, but you can do that for us by visiting =Desto soon: 1400 Américo Salas in Santurce. Call 787-633-3381 for hours and the usual information.