In the late 1960s, Lee Lozano conceived of and executed a series of ‘Language Pieces’ written in the pages of her notebooks, consisting of rules and parameters for the actions that would constitute a piece. From offering money to house-guests to smoking as much marijuana as possible, Lozano boldly tested social norms, culminating in two of her most famous works: General Strike Piece (1969), which saw her retreating from the art world completely, and Decide to Boycott Women (1971), in which she ceased engaging with all members of her own gender.

Moer, an artists’ book by Ana Jotta and Ricardo Valentim, was published in 2018 by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as part of its renowned educational editions series. Initially conceived as a working dossier for an exhibition at the Gulbenkian Museum, this collection included materials, references, and proposals for a joint exhibition.

The title originates from one of the works in the book: Ana Jotta’s personal business card, which features the French word “Moi.” In Portuguese, the near-homonym moer (“to grind”) creates a layered pun that resonates throughout the project, representing the negotiations, pressures, and subtle abrasions that shaped the book’s development and the artists’ interaction with the museum.

Produced on the occasion of Tony Conrad’s retrospective at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (2018), MIT List Visual Arts Center and Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard University (2018/2019) and ICA, University of Pennsylvania (2019). With texts by Rachel Adams, Vera Alemani, Constance DeJong, Diedrich Diederichsen, Anthony Elms, David Grubbs, Henriette Huldisch, Branden W. Joseph, Andrew Lampert, Christopher Müller, Annie Ochmanek, Tony Oursler, Tina Rivers Ryan, Jay Sanders, Paige Sarlin, Christopher Williams.

A publication containing 5 horizontal lines.

Gėlės, flowers in Lithuanian, features an extremely rare series of pictures taken by photographer Algirdas Šeškus in the 1980s. The series is comprised of ten portraits of flowers originally commissioned as decor for an institutional building in the then Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Yet, decoration wasn’t their only purpose. In reality, the flowers were intended to lift the spirit of the workers, making them happier and more productive. Expectations that Šeškus’ images were unable to fulfill. Not finding them encouraging enough, the authorities in charge deemed the photographs unfit for the task and rejected them. And that’s how they ended up forgotten under the photographer’s couch, where they remained for the last 40 years, until now. Eventually, it is due to their quiet, dramatic character that these photographs outlived their socialist duty and reached our days. Never exhibited or published before, this book presents the complete series of rejected flowers, along with a brief account of the episode written by Šeškus. Sorrowful, yet strikingly erotic, these images ultimately belong to today: a time unfit for the uplifting.

Editied and designed by Gabriel Pericàs.

Produced on the occasion of the exhibition One to One at Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, 29 September, 2017–7 January, 2018. With a text by Kirsty Bell.