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Claudia de la Torre’s works often start from a book. She examines the structure and relationship between the surfaces and forms – the book covers, titles, the layout of the individual pages. By means of appropriation and détournement, her work often takes the form of an artist book, a library or an archive. How is our knowledge of the world organized, classified and archived? What are the underlying systems of our knowledge? How do we approach what we learn of the world? For her new work ‘Cities in Flight or The Satellite Variations’, produced for the exhibition at Rinomina, de la Torre takes James Blish’s science fiction novel as a starting point to examine the structure of story-telling and to build up a parallel narrative to the one evident in the story.

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. The arrows in the book are reflected by geometric forms sitting on shelves in the exhibition space. Claudia de la Torre suggests one of boundless possibilities of how the wordsconnect 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.

Nadja Quante

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Softcover, acrylic paint on book600 pages,105 x 190 mmEdition of 10 + 2 A.P.backbonebooks, 2016

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Exhibition view at Rinomina, Paris2016

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Cities in Flight or the S

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Exhibition view at Rinomina, Paris2016

Softcover, acrylic paint on book600 pages,105 x 190 mmEdition of 10 + 2 A.P.backbonebooks, 2016

Cities in Flight or the S

atellite Variations

Exhibition view at Rinomina, Paris2016

12” Dubplate, sound on loopSilkscreen on paper, with the voice of Erik Penny. Recorded at Simon Fronzek Studio, Berlin.Edition of 10 + 2 A.P.backbonebooks, 2016

Cities in Flight or the S

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Cities in Flight or the S

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HenritaContribution for a publication curated by Nadja Quante2017

Always double, but slightly different. A time in between – a small story. Formally double is as well a page when you open it. Time is as well the flipping of the pages, and gap between the images. What’s before, and what comes after, giving the user a chance to go back and forth. To compare.

We selected two paintings by Juan de Arellano (1670 – 1680), and one photograph taken by Uta in a museum back in India. Both stemming from two different contexts- though having in common the plinth and the pot. The paintings depict two staged bouquets. This grotesque vases stand upon a plinth. Giving the impression that they are not merely arrangements, but actual ob-jects – quasi sculptural objects. The plinths on the other hand, are formally minimalistic which function is elevating the objects that rest upon them. In the painting they play a second roll, in the pho-tograph the main. The plinth becomes sculpture.

By cutting the image in half and arranging it as a page (front and back), we play with the idea of constructing by deconstructing. And the possibility of folding the image in order to complete the one that lays underneath (in this case, the painted vase). The gro-tesque has also to do with the deconstruction of the image. The user has the chance to get involved and to fold the center page, turning the one dimensional image into a three dimensional one. Every variation results as a new image. Each half on the image completes the other half. Same same, but different.

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Grottesque Arabesque, or pots on plinthsCollage. Contribution for Inextenso magazine printed as the centerfold. 2016

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„The Questions Library“ transforms the exhibition space into a service center for the user: carpeted floor, a table, chairs, a reading lamp, and bookshelves can all be found inside the library.

What all the books have in common, as a glance at the spine of each volume or the exhibition catalogue suggests, is that each book bears a question as its title: „Wer war der zweite Mann?“, „Skilanglauf wie und wo?“, „Wie schreibt man jetzt?“ or „Who’s afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?“ The books in „The Questions Library“ are classified and catalogued according to the type of question, rather than the content of the text. De la Torre confronts the visitor with questions, without giving direct answers. Instead, the public keeps their autonomy by having the possibility of seek-ing the „answers“ by themselves – therefore there is a table, chairs and a reading lamp available. With more than 400 books, the active user can select and consult themes or questions and in the „exhibition space as reading room“ quench their thirst for knowledge.

In the course of the show the inventory will constantly expand, as visitors have the chance to donate books to the library. This is a piece which is in process at all times. During visiting hours,employees of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden – take on the role of „librarian“ by sorting, sealing, and cataloguing the new donations.

The books are the means and the end, on the other hand Ready-made objects.

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The Questions Library Catalogue Vol. ISoftcover224 pages,105 x 190 mmEdition of 10 + 2 A.P.backbonebooks, 2012

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Installation View. 45 cbm, Kunsthalle Baden Baden

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Constellation I.

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Constellation II.

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Farbnamenlexikon von A bis ZInstallation, sound on loop2014

In the past, I have worked with encyclopedias, lexicons, and dictionaries - Always with the idea in mind,that this kind of books have to be actualized to actually “work” in a daily basis.

The process of accumulation, the (re-) ordering of information as well as the relation between language, word and image appeared to be major subjects since the beginning of my artistic practice.For this series of unique books, I took as a starting point the origi-nal french volumes of Encyclopaedia Universalis. Starting with vol. 4 - the one that goes from CAVAFY to CORTÁZAR because of Julio Cortázar and his famous novel “Rayuela”. He wrote this novel having in mind that one could start reading it at any point, at any page - so that each time a new reading path could be discovered.

This gives the possibility of getting lost and found in the story - and makes evident the potentiality of the book as an object in which to find our own way. Diverse lectures. Endless variations

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CAVAFY / CORTAZARHardcover, 1070 pages, 290 x 195 mm.Offset, Unique. 2016

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Installation view, Art3 Valence. All of the books I’ve published until 2015Reading benches, wood and powder coated metal2015

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Installation view, Art3 Valence. 2015

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A bookA book isA book is an objectA book is an object in space containing multiple spacesA book is an object in space containing multiple spaces in timesingle words and whole pages meant to be activatedA book is an object in space containing multiple spaces in timesingle words and whole pages meant to beactivated by a userA book is an object in space containing multiple spaces in timesingle words and whole pages meant to be activated by a user individually

A book is an object in space containing multiple spaces, single words and whole pages meant to be activated by a user

individually flipped through and heldin the hands, fitting human scale

A book is an object in space containing different spaces. Single words and full pages.

Forming a body

Postcards to take awayDigital print on paper.2016

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Installation viewBlack and white print on Bond2015

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Installation viewBook cover cloths on cardboard2015

Installation viewBook cover cloths on cardboard2015

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