By stressing words in the existing storyline, de la Torre develops a parallel world that overlays the pre-existing utopia laid out in the book. Claudia de la Torre suggests one of the boundless possibilities of how the words connect to each other, the variations being almost as infinite as space. She applies the principle of improvisation to a system whose conjunctions are usually ruled by grammar and by a logic reliant on meaning. The words the artist selects are like tones played from a scale that is prescribed by Blish’s selection of words (not forgetting the voices of the readers). While side A of the record reflects a storyline deliberately composed by the artist, side B is constructed by chance of words spinning in an orbit, forming arbitrary alliances. Both storylines captured on the respective sides of the record create a parallel universe spinning around Blish’s story – just as a satellite spins around Earth.
Text: NADJA QUANTE
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Claudia de la Torre
Berlin-based artist and publisher Claudia de la Torre (1986, Mexico City) studied Fine Arts at the ENPEG ‘La Esmeralda in Mexico City, and holds a masters degree by the Kunstakademie Karlsruhe (Silvia Bächli class). Since 2011 director of the publishing house backbonebooks, having published more than 89 titles and editions.
She has been awarded several scholarships and grants including the Shannon Michael Cane Fellowship - Printed Matter NYC (2018). National Fund for the Arts (FONCA), México (2017), Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg (2016), Frida Kahlo scholarship for woman artists DAAD, Germany (2016) and the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung (2016).
de la Torre has been teaching artist books workshops in several places such as the Kunstakademie Karlsruhe, HKDM Freiburg and the École Supérieure des beaux-arts de Nîmes, France. Her work is part of diverse collections including the Thomas J. Watson at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), the Faber Birren Collection of Books on Color - Yale Library, and the MoMa (NYC).
backbonebooks.net
Accepted
2019-11-21 13:00
