Ulises Carrión: Personal Worlds Or Cultural Strategies

by Ulises Carrión (Artwork), Martha Hellion (Editor), Issa Maria Benitez

In March 1975, three weeks after opening Other Books and So, the first book-shop dedicated to artist's productions of all sorts, Ulises Carrion sent out more than 1,000 letters asking artists, writers, and publishers to send him "the sort of books you make." A few days later, packages started arriving from North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, and Australia. They didn't stop for the next three years, at which point Other Books and So was closed and turned into an archive. Personal Worlds or Cultural Strategies? is'the most complete compilation of that collection, and includes, as well, Carrion's writings and essays, in which he defines and interprets the bookwork. But as he himself once said, " I firmly believe that every book that now exists will eventually disappear. And I see here no reason for lamentation. Like any other living organism, books will grow, multiply, change color, and eventually, die." At the moment, bookworks represent the final phase of this irrevocable process. Libraries, museums, archives are the perfect cemeteries for books.

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Ulises Carrión (Veracruz México; 1941 - Amsterdám; 1989) fue un escritor, editor y artista mexicano nacido en San Andrés Tuxtla. Celebrado inicialmente como un talentoso y joven escritor, a principios de los años 70 Carrión abandonó al mismo tiempo México y la literatura ortodoxa para iniciar en Europa una obra en el arte contemporáneo. Heriberto Yépez lo llama "el escritor post-literario más innovador que haya nacido en México".