Established by the Parisian gallery castillo/corrales (FR) as a way to explore further the varied practices of the persons with whom they work, Paraguay Press's titles are published in small editions and often defy the expectation of what an artist book, monograph, or essay should be. The organizers work closely with the authors, sometimes in conjunction with exhibitions, sometimes as wholly separate entities that stand alone as works that take print forms. Direct from Paraguay:
"...a co-operatively run, independent art publishing company, managed by the group of artists, writers and curators behind castillo/corrales and section 7 books...to reclaim control of the means of creation, production and distribution of the books in which their work appear...all depart from an understanding of the space of the book, considered not as a medium of documentation nor a vector of promotion, but as an act of translation and the extension of artistic, critical and curatorial thinking into a graphic, mobile, democratic and durable form."
*****
A The Provence City Guide: NICE: The California of Europe. Eds. Tobias Kaspar, Hannes Loichinger. This full-color pocket guide to Nice, France, is really, really great. Put together by the ultimate unreliable narrators, editors of Provence* magazine, it's relevant for art-conscious travelers and those who, in general, don't mind being misled into potentially funny/weird new discoveries. The photography is original, and many of the entries (bars, cafes, galleries, shopping, hotels, etc.) may or may not have been updated from the over 43 travel guides (fr. 1885-2010) consulted in putting it together. It's full of facts, editorial flourishes and commentary, weird historic contexualization, but also just straight-shooting descriptions about nice places to visit. 6.25" x 4", 160 pages. $16. Add to cart
*Please also visit our entry on Provence, the strange and deeply unbalanced magazine about hobbies by the same editors.
B The Social Life of The Book #3: Infant A by Louis Luthi. It makes sense that Mr. Luthi would use the framework of a fictionalized conversation between his protagonist and the figure of Ulises Carrion (Mexican writer, expatriated to The Netherlands) to examine the uses, meanings, and significance of the letter "a;" further down the rabbit-hole lies Warhol's a: a novel, as counterpoint. As a designer he is known for investigations of language and their influences on visual representations, but it's his deft zig-zagging, a kind of exuberance in figuring it all out that makes it work. Edition of 1000. 16 pages, 8.75" x 6.25". $10. Add to cart
C The Social Life of The Book #2: The Wet and the Dry by Moyra Davey. The second in the series (see below), Ms. Davey (artist, photographer, writer) submits an autobiographical essay that mixes her readings of texts by johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her clan, the Shelley family. Edition of 1000. 16 pages, 8.75" x 6.25". $10. Add to cart
D The Social Life of The Book #1: Making Books by Oscar Tuazon. The first in an on-going series, The Social Life... is a publication of original texts by writers, artists, publishers, designers, and booksellers, focused on each's relationship to books. Each installment is comprised of a saddle-stitched signature; the entire 12-volume series will be hand-bound into a 192-page edition. For subscription information, please visit castillo/corrales. Design by Will Holder. Edition of 1000. 8" x 6", 16 pages. $10. Add to cart
E Steal This Book by Dora Garcia. Ed. François Piro. With the invocation of provocateur Abbie Hoffman, artist Dora García acknowledges the influence of his seminal work on her performance projects from 2006-08, eleven of which are recorded here. Taking the form of correspondence between the artist and performer, the passages document practice, intent, confusion, misreading - a multiplicity of voices, ultimately revealing the instability of history as it's made and remembered. Design by Alex Gifreu. Edition of 1500. 4.5" x 7", 136 pages. $20. Add to cart
F Red Flags by Joe Scanlan. Made by Scanlan for his 2009 exhibition at castillo/corrales, the artist has re-conceived formative economic texts by Thorstein Veblen, Joseph Schumpeter, Milton Friedman, and Edward Said as a kind of epic poem. The original essays range from anti-capitalist analyses to colonialism to the advent of American big business, newly contextualized by Scanlan to address instead the concerns of artists and the state of creative production now. By making these small, significant alterations, Scanlan shifts points - what would it mean to discuss contemporary culture in purely economic terms, think of "markets" as neighbors, or the artist as entrepreneur? A fresh, lyrical approach to subject matter that's often stubbornly pushed to wayside. Design by Francesca Grassi. Edition of 500. 11" x 7.75", 40 pages. $28. Add to cart
G Parrot by Karl Larsson. Ed. Kim West. Design by Pascal Prosek. Edition of 1000. 4.25" x 7.25", 80 pages. $20. Add to cart
H Katinka Bock. Ed. Thomas Boutoux. With Sabeth Buchmann, Natascha Sadr Haghighian, Kim West. Design by Guillaume Mojon. Edition of 1200. 5.75" x 8.25", 152 pages. $35. Add to cart
I "Dialogues" - A Film By Owen Land. Eds. Philippe Pirotte, Julia Strebelow. Design by Kaisa Lassinaro. Co-published with Kunsthalle Bern. 10" x 5.5", 336 pages. $28. Add to cart
J The Interview/L'Entretien by Thomas Boutoux and Guillaume Leblon. Originally performed by Renan Carteaux, Violodia Serre. A play in six scenes between artist/critic that dissolves into a series of misunderstandings and arguments over the cultural practices of the day. The convo starts over an attempt to re-write a version of Tristram Shandy. Forgive the editorializing, please, but part of the appeal of this book is what it says about Paraguay, their delight in material that subtly critiques art, the art of critique, the instability of process, and the (in)authenticity of product. Design by Bowling Club. English/French. Edition of 500. 7.75" x 5"; 112 pages. $22.
