Son[i]a #170
Erick Beltrán
The work of Mexican artist Erick Beltrán deals with processes of editing, classification and conceptualisation of structures of thought. A special interest in the epistemology, reinterpretation and management of over-information has led him to explore unique archives and libraries all over the world.
Through his unusual collection of case studies, Beltrán analyses the way in which archives mediate between us and the world, and explore whether archives reflect the existing world order or, on the contrary, impose order onto the world. He also questions whether our reading adapts itself to the classification that has been predefined by libraries, or if it is precisely reading, and the erratic links that it creates, that shapes its structure and its meaning.
Erick Beltrán shares some prominent examples from his personal research into archives and libraries with SON[I]A.
related episodes
Transcript of Quim Pujol’s audio essay for OBJECTHOOD #3.
Transcript of THE MALADY OF WRITING. Modernism you can dance to, curated by Kenneth Goldsmith.
Conversation with Rick Prelinger on his film collection
This is a conversation by email with ephemeral film collector Rick Prelinger, which took place on April 2011.
Cuts, folds, scales, sound objects, charts, chimeras. Artists Erick Beltrán and Florian Hecker discuss different theories about objects in relation to their respective artistic practices.
Erick Beltrán
In his work, Mexican artist Erick Beltrán reflects on the ways in which information is legitimised by manipulating and using discourses from published material.
Deleted scenes
We dig up some unreleased fragments of the interview with the Mexican artist Erick Beltrán.
Wolfgang Ernst
Wolfgang Ernst reflects on the possibility of going beyond the concept of the archive by exploring some of the practices around what is now being called the 'anarchive'.
Bartomeu Marí and Chus Martínez talk about the exhibition "The Malady of Writing. A project on text and speculative imagination".
Modernism you can dance to
This program is an audio companion to the exhibition "The Malady of Writing. A project on text and speculative imagination" that presents a pleasurable, humorous and fun version of modernism.