“A library is not the same as an archive: it lacks a system of hierarchies that determines the place that each book occupies within it in relation to the others. This does not mean, however, that any haphazard and disorderly accumulation of titles constitutes a library. Certainly, almost all libraries started in the same way: just a few books brought together without order or arrangement, without any premeditated plan or apparent selection criteria. With the passing of time, these few books are more, and more, until one day it becomes clear that they have not been gathered by chance, but rather bound together by a series of mysterious alliances. What are these alliances? Are they hidden from the human eye, or can they be discerned? Are they stable, or do they change over time? Lliure associació [Loose Association] presents some of the interrelationships that, like invisible but meaningful threads, link some of the titles that belong to a personal library in which artist’s publications occupy an important rank, but actually share the shelves with other printed materials that, a priori, do not belong to the same category. A library in which, as in any other library, books can connect with each other through links that are sometimes obvious, and sometimes so subtle as to be barely discernible.”
The Ensayos series was launched in late 2021, coinciding with the start of a wide-ranging research project aimed at redefining—from a feminist and, to the extent possible, decolonial perspective—the canon that historiography has established for the artist’s book genre. The aim of this series is to present partial research findings in a variety of printed formats. While disseminating information and content, the publications in the series experiment with alternative formats to the channels through which academic research is usually disseminated.
Barcelona / Hamburg: Self-published, May 2024
Concept, texts, photographs: Mela Dávila Freire
Graphic design: Luis Llorens – Cupé Studio, Madrid / Hamburg
Digital printing, 1+1, bound with a screw
10 x 17,5 cm, 28 pp
Printed at Tecnoart, Barcelona
1st edition: 100 ex.
Texts in Catalan, Spanish and English
With the support of Prats Nogueras Blanchard Gallery, Barcelona.
Distributed by the gallery – Out of stock.
