Buymeacoffee.com/catartica
Engram Cells AGC
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The Cynicism behind Self-Care Rossanna Huerta
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War of memory and identity Bruno Sánchez
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41 M.I. Flores Nachón Not everything is ... about life Rossanna Huerta
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Piety
M.I. Flores Nachón
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Aesthetic Rich Assortment
M0uthz
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If I forget about myself Victor Rivera
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The Seventh Seal M.I. Flores Nachón
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Arterrible.mx Josué Castillo
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Euphoric Sexism Rossanna Huerta
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Engram
Cells A. G . C
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Rossanna Huerta As much as we try to deny it, mankind is a being held hostage by post-capitalism. By being so immersed in the capitalist ideology, we do not realize that the “Self-care day” is nothing more than an invention of the post-industrial society to continue subjugating us. This phenomenon is characteristic of the millennials and gen-z generations, who seek to promote on their social media that they have more than enough time to spend. However, we have to question whether one is really performing self-care actions when performing this type of activities in the digital age.
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Let us begin with self-care, according to Michel Foucault, this must be a permanent practice in order to ensure the continuous exercise of freedom and the governability of our individual life (1997, p.301). Self-care has to do with knowing oneself in order to possess the power to criticize and separate oneself from the crushing post-industrial society that consumes every bit of our person and turns it into a commodity (Foucault, 1997, p.286). We know that throughout the last centuries, man has lost himself in the world, he has forgotten to place and think himself within his environment by feeling superior to the rest, therefore, what Foucault argues is that the only way the man could reconcile with himself is by rediscovering his own nature and recovering the contact with his origin and reestablish a full and positive relationship with himself and the world (1997, p. 287). The subjects who participate in the exercise of the practices of freedom must take care of themselves so that, in this way, their thoughts and actions are charged with moral values that they have acquired from their life experience in order to take care of others (Foucault, 1997). We have already seen this line of thought developed with Martin Heidegger where he theorizes that humanity has been transformed to such an extent that true humanism has been lost in society because we are so focused on capitalist and religious productions, and thus we lose our authenticity and our subjectivity (2000, p.3). The point of Foucault's ethics is to try to recover the subjectivity of the individual to prevent him from continuing to be subjected to an ideology that is only concerned with continuing to generate income for the company (Friedman, 1970). Now, self-care from a traditional -not philosophical- perspective would be eating healthy or exercising, but this issue has evolved to a point where it seems that the idea of taking care of oneself is not based on that but rather spending on unnecessary items and showing those experiences on social networks. On Twitter or Instagram self-care is defined as:
1. Self care is an umbrella term that Twitter/Tumblr SJWs use to excuse their poor financial decisions. Why spend money on things like rent/bills when you can buy coloring books from Whole Foods? (Urban Dictionary, 2018, definition 1) 2. When millennial choose to ignore all of the tasks they need to accomplish in favor of screwing over their coworkers, doing culturally-appropriative meditation rituals, and drinking La Croix water. Can also involve rubbing ungodly amounts of coconut oil over their skin and listening to vaporwave music while planning an outing to a gentrified book store or record shop.(Urban Dictionary, 2018, definition 3) 6
This is often related to the phrase Treat yo' self which refers to the first meaning of modern self-care, as an opportunity to indulge oneself because the subject has overexerted him/herself in his/her daily life. We do not deny that it is necessary to take care of oneself, only note that these actions do not look like self-care but actions based on the society of spectacle and the society of exposure. Both Guy Debord and Byung-Chul Han denote that contemporary society is absurdly interested in their online presence and how they present themselves to the world. It seems that the subject feels a great need to show the world that one is having a good time by not working, that is, by relaxing and taking time for oneself. These actions within the capitalist Self-care culture produce and reproduce the spectacle as they assert that appearances are everything in society (Debord, 1995). The individual no longer has the freedom to make decisions for his personal good, on the contrary, we are more enslaved than ever by adopting diffuse forms of social enchainment based on commodity fetishism and the need to demonstrate that we are capable of buying and spending on capitalist objects of self-care (Abad, 2012, p.8).
Ilustración encontrada en: COPD
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According to the theory of the spectacle, we live through images, we consume them, internalize them and feed them back, thus building a whole new vision of the world translated into images -that is, a Weltanschauung- (Debord, 1995, p.9) The value given to the production of this type of images is of the late-capitalist stage, due to the fact that it complies with the parameters of an image with exhibition value. This type of value differs from those marked by Marx since it has no utilitarian value nor does it reflect explicit labor force. It only has value for showing itself to the world and generating a fantasy in what is shown (Han, 2012, p.26) (Abad, 2012, p.9). Self-care culture subjugates individuals in the same way that the economy is subjugating man -generating the reification of the goods and bodies of individuals in favor of the image- thus creating a spectacle within the economy itself (Debord, 1995, p.12). The fact that celebrities seek to promote beauty and lifestyle products on their social networks is in order to contribute to the self-care culture. For example, the online magazine Insider tells us about the self-care habits that certain celebrities developed during their confinement due to the coronavirus. It mentions "Elizabeth Banks indulged in a tequila cocktail while wearing her leopard print pyjamas as she waited for her hair mask to set" (Peppin, 2020). Is it self-care to be drinking cocktails while waiting to put on a hair mask? On the contrary, it is post-industrial capitalist propaganda selling the fantasy of being a celebrity. The reason why so much is sought after to generate this sense of fantasy behind a carefree life of luxury is because of the amount of money generated in the industry. The wellness industry generates an estimated $4.2 trillion per year -2017-, of which, the categories of antiaging products, the spa industry and diet products are among the highest revenue earners per year. This industry is one of the largest and with great capacity for expansion. In the last 5 years it has grown from $3.7 trillion to $4.2 trillion, an approximate 6.4% annual growth rate (McGroarty, 2018). The justification behind the increase of so many wellness-related products and services is somewhat cynical as it seeks to generate an approach to self-care from a non-Foucauldian perspective- due to the constant pollution -mental, physical and environmental- of spaces in big cities. The wellness industry is not an ideological superstructure as such, on the contrary it is an ideological structure that is part of an even bigger game called capitalism (Gasper, 2004).
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It is no surprise that, due to the size of this industry, it seeks to generate more profits for the companies involved in the production of wellness goods and services. There are no social responsibilities behind the wellness industry, its main product is not generating wellness, on the contrary, insecurities are generated in the subjects that can be satisfied by using the products and services that are promoted through celebrities (Friedman, 1970). Self-care, in the sense of social self-care, is ideological cynicism for the simple fact that one does not seek to take care of oneself as such but seeks to generate exposure value. We cannot blame the subjects who are part of this cycle of ideology since it is not so easy to recognize that one is within an ideology that controls every aspect of one's identity. Celebrities and all those who are part of this social self-care culture fail to see that it is not self-care that they are achieving, it is another form of selling through the obsession with beauty and youth. Likewise, this sense of self-care does not really have much to do with taking care of your person in order to get closer to the humanism of being, but rather it is a way of ideological control of capitalism and with its great pillars: profit, spectacle and exposure, I consider that it is a way even to indoctrinate man, to continue producing for capital, by giving them free spaces of rest. The fantasy behind the wellbeing of Self-care is nothing more than the use of the insecurities of the subject to generate profits for the company and perpetuate the cycle of spectacle, and, therefore, that of ideology.
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Biography: Abad Montesino, J. (2012) Guy Debord: el espectáculo, la mercancía y la inversión de la realidad. Cuaderno de Materiales 24, 5-25. Debord, G. (1995) La sociedad del espectáculo (Trad. R. Vicuña Navarro). Ediciones Naufragio Epoch Philosophy. (2020). Slavoj Žižek: The Sublime Object of Ideology [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtIckkHsUQ4&t=3s Foucault, M. (1997) The ethics of the concern of the self as a practice of freedom. En P. Rainbow (Eds.), Ethics: subjectivity and truth (pp. 281-301). The New Press. Friedman, M. (1970) The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits. The New York Times, 17-23. https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedmandoctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html Gasper, P. (2004) The Classics of Marxism: The German Ideology. International Socialist Review, 33. http://www.isreview.org/issues/33/germanideology.shtml#:~:text=THE%20GERMAN%20 Ideology%20was%20the,were%20in%20their%20mid%2Dtwenties. Han, B.C. (2012). La sociedad de la transparencia (Trad. R. Gabas)(1.ª edición, 5.ª impresión). Herder Editorial Heidegger, M. (2000) Carta sobre el humanismo (Trad. H. Cortés y A. Leyte). Alianza Editorial McGroarty, B. (2018) Wellness industry statistics & facts. Global Wellness Institute. Recuperado de: https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/statistics-and-facts/ Peppin, H. (2020) 15 celebrities who have shared their Self-care techniques while quarantining. Insider. Recuperado de: https://www.insider.com/celebrities-who-haveshared-self-care-techniques-while-quarantining-coronavirus-2020-3 Urban Dictionary (2018) Self-care. En Diccionario Urbano. Recuperado en 15 de mayo 2021, de https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Self%20care
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WAR OF MEMORY AND IDENTITY Bruno Sánchez If art serves to recall the memory of an ideal and therefore ideals serve to motivate man's progress, then art serves to remind man of its motivation to progress in the face of the uncertainty of its own existence. Through reactive abstraction or direct idyll that encourages the intrapersonal inspection of the person who perceives it. Art is the medium that encourages maintaining the deserved respect between individuals and societies and them with, therefore, the world.
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Under this premise, in 1954, with fresh memories of World War II, the Hague Convention Act was declared, signed, and ratified, in order to protect cultural heritage at all costs, regardless of the monetary value. or its property, in cases of armed conflict that endangers its state of existence; basically, provides that all historical and artistic cultural property is exempt from being a target of armed attack. Damaging cultural property means damaging the heritage of humanity, not only in the cultural aspect, thus declares the essence of this agreement. Attacks on these are considered crimes against humanity or war crimes, depending on the particularity of the case.
The goal is to prevent Alexandria from burning again. It was not until the Second World War that the imminence of danger became present in his own flesh, that he belatedly realized how constant the risks are, how possible the dangers are and how impassive, or in some cases how stupid. They are the ones who threaten the collective memory of their human heritage. At that time the world was suddenly progressing with never in history, but a dehumanizing progress that was intended, if not to rewrite history, to forget the idea that and how we made what we are.
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Abstraction and methodism had crossed places, now the abstract was limited only to the canvases and the technical and exact methodism became the ruling norm to industrialize the progress of humanity, endangering, precisely, the abstract in all its form and idea.
The will is the non-tangible arsenal that motivates man to act, if not for himself, to intervene in situations alien to him, but under the direct context of a whole, that interest is rewarded while his apathy is charged. of his being. However, one of the, shall we say, fuels that most effectively motivate the human will are those that only arise in situations that are beyond our control and are the appropriate response to avoid any threat to our stability and even life, are those that also, we try to avoid feeling: desperation and panic, are those that motivate one's will with great efficiency, since the will is born not of pleasure but of necessity. And in times of war, the will abounds.
The cultural heritage represents an idea that characterizes the feeling of a nation, the stereotyped concepts that we have when we think of a foreign place are born from the culture of that country or region, often exaggerated or misrepresented, but which at the same time is based on the historical weight that it presents, that adds value to the culture
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that it evokes and that can even be the basis that sustains the lifestyle and the principles to idealize in a population. All of the above described, the past, the unique value and its resilience is what makes up the identity, which characterizes the values of an individual who applies them according to their attitudes in their direct context, thus consolidating their personality and personality is the elements that promotes life beyond mere existence by surviving among individuals who collaborate with each other,
However, like all life, the risk of death is constant. Although the collective identity is created and produced from individuals, it is not destroyed from the same origin. To take a life, it has to be done from an external and methodical force. A tree is not going to provide its own saw. The most effective way to kill an identity is to dehumanize it, by the time it is finished with it, ending the person as such is the easiest thing to do, be it by reforming it, creating, and forging an inorganic identity that would have to be reinforced until it leaves descendants, or die, and in both the external force would have control of how and when. Therefore, redesigning, erasing and destroying works, monuments, structures and any tangible representation of collective identity would be like crushing an ant with the index finger.
Examples of identity murders are not lacking, basically this is how the great empires of the past were created and consolidated; also, to the abstract concept of identity apply the exact concepts of biology, even the bizarre territories of the present; whose permanence is an abstraction lost among the exact bureaucracy. For example, the ideals of the original identity of Mexico are more similar to those of the remnant towns of "Uses and customs" than to that of... I don't know... the Bronx, New York,
All tangible cultural, artistic, and historical heritage is a reflection of the identity of a community, region and nation. The tangible expressions of these contrasting ideals, that is, any representation of identity that is considered as artistic heritage, are the constant in the ever-fluctuating human consciousness, art and characteristic culture, in whatever form, serve the population as reference symbol serving as unifying factors of society, and its interpretation as a reminder of their belonging to it.
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Although the Hague Act is the universal declaration with the greatest validity and validity in the protection of cultural heritage, in practice it is only used as a reference to redound the illegality of the act committed and of the destroyed work or heritage. As the remembrances of the chaos of the war surpassed its empiricism and the warlike conflicts as such descended to be part of the background, directly oblivious to the well-being and interest of a good part of the population, the importance of asserting the intentions of the restored international community in the act does not go beyond the paper. Conflicts continue to happen and the impotence to avoid them is, if not less effective, more frustrating when applying empty hope to hide the conflict and its horrors under the carpet of the international bureaucracy and wish it would drown. This at the cost of all direct and indirect victims trapped in the combat fronts or as direct targets of apathetic dehumanized violence. See historical cases such as the demolition of pre-Hispanic temples during the conquest, the destruction of the Parthenon by cannon fire by the Venetian army in 1687 or the eradication of entire towns during the partition of Africa at the end of the 19th century to more contemporary cases such as the demolition of entire historic neighborhoods during the communist regimes in Europe in the 50's and 60's, the explosions of the Bamiyan Buddha statues in 2001, the destruction done by the Islamic State against multiple monuments and historical objects in its rampant attempt to create a Caliphate in 2014 and 2015. There are more and more cases in which the incapacity of the authorities and the impotence of the civilians converge to the point of making it difficult or even impossible to achieve minimal justice by eliminating the remaining traces of human identity, losing such until it risks falling into the lack of justice. identity and only exists for and to survive and serve, restarting a lost era such as the Middle Ages in contrast to the organization and coexistence systems of the ancient era in Rome, which is more similar to our practical reality despite being historically more distant.
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It should be emphasized that it was during the Middle Ages that the ideas, rules and dogmas emerged that would enslave the wills of the people, not only their people and not only with physical punishment, but with the moral threat of a superior force bordering on the paranoia, sorrows that continue to carry until today. The greatest risk of the death of identity is the uncertainty of who will reform that void and with what. This type of exploitative filiation is not alien to Russia, which has been a victim and victimizer of its own consequences since the formalization of itself in the brutal expansion of its territory over the Siberian peoples under the yoke of Tsar Peter the Great, Russifying to every village and town conquered for generations no matter how remote it may have been from the heart of the empire, passing through the Russian revolution and ideological reformation of the entire country and, consequently, the entire region of Russian influence in which the characteristic identities of the regions closest to his heart in the same way suffered an involuntary euthanasia when falling under the yoke of Stalin, who destroyed society and all remembrance of his individuality and rebuilt his identity by passing off his convenience as the Union's convenience. Even under Soviet endorsement, the identity was reformed again from a society servile and subjugated to the fist of Stalin to one somewhat less fearful of the fragile temperament of the one who rules the heart. That re-re-re-formed identity was outdated with the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s, where Russia finally had a chance to recover at least the idea of an identity of its own in an organic way, restoring what was worth recovering from all the lost times of its history to the present, although that apparent benevolence with the particularity of a historical identity apparently creates Russia that applies only to itself, in the face of the abusive military invasion of the independent nation of Ukraine that led to the current war. For any invader who seeks to seize power from the people, the symbols that unite their people through their culture evoke their history and are always considered a threat to eliminate, being seen as a popular unifier of resistance against the enemy. During the first week of the Russian siege of Ukraine, the invading forces burned the Ivankiv Local Historical Museum, near Kyiv, where a large part of the region's cultural heritage was located, including much of the work of one of the most emblematic and important from Ukraine, Maria Prymachenko. None of the buildings or structures surrounding the museum were damaged at the time, indicating that the attack was targeted, premeditated, and therefore criminal.
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In his collection there were around 25 works by Prymachenko, who went down in history for being a pioneer in her country in naive art. It has a deep symbolism for the Ukrainian people, since it knew how to rescue the characteristic traditions of Ukraine under a deeply colorful work, between naïve art and folk art. Born into a peasant family, she lived near Ivankiv, surrounded by countryside that was, along with her dreams, her main muse. Despite suffering from polio, she was self-taught and in the 30's she began to share her talent with the rest of the world even becoming an influence for Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall.
“I am in awe of the artistic miracle of this brilliant Ukrainian.”– Pablo Picasso, Feria mundial de París, 1937. Identity is what motivates the will of the individual to act beyond the mere survival instinct and it is these sacrifices that are worth being recorded in the collective memory of culture. What Putin's Russia intends is to rebuild the lost Russian power by keeping captive a sphere of direct influence that, long before what the pro-Russian interventionist doctrine stipulates, is independent and alien to Russian identity, even though they share a history, identity is forged by the collective desire of the people and those people, currently attacked and trapped, want the right of being instead of serving.
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M.I. Flores Nachón
41 days before you told me you were leaving, and then the day became a life. One station per hour and one hug per smile. 41 days before you gave me notice and I thanked you without reproach. 41 became 30 and March became April. A wait that became a disease without a cure, a destiny that expired, and a tear that got used to being saved. I crossed out April on the calendar and my chest sagged and I gasped for breath. One more day that became one day less, and still thinking that summer stole an hour from us, that it slipped away from me as if I didn't need it. Condemned to see the sun go down and kneel to ask the moon to forget to go down for just one night. Three hundred times I read:
Let go of the plural
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Let go of the plural Let go of the plural
Just like I let go of winter, let go of the plural. And now I received the first spring in five of them where I know the sun will burn me with cold.
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41 that became 10. 10 days after you leave, my nails cling to your shirt so that the hours extend with them. I thought 41 would numb me, dry my eyes and finish my nails, but on the contrary, my cheeks stretch with every drop that falls and my ears are scared with every tick of a clock that will not stop. The announcement of an expiration date. The dream that lengthens and the selfishness between you and me. A silence every time you ask me what I feel, a smile when we talk about it. I'm sorry.
I don't want to let go of the plural and much less I want to let you go. Let go of the plural, is a concept and verse taken from Poemas de Invierno, authorship of Victor Rivera, published in Catartica: December '21
NOT EVERYTHING IS...
ABOUT LIFE Rossanna Huerta
My approach to death happened at an early age, I had the knowledge that it existed but never had experienced it in such a close way, much less did I not know how to deal with so many conflicting emotions. Some relatives very close to me passed away, and from that moment I began to become aware of the fragility of my life. However, these experiences did not cause me to be afraid of death, much less of getting old, it was so strangely fascinating to see the natural process of life. So much so that it's hard for me to understand people who flee and deny death, hoping that if you don't talk about it, it will cease to exist. In this way I found the most comical and curious watercolor that I have seen so far: Uninvited guest / The visit of the death of Adolph Von Menzel.
Let's start a bit with Von Menzel… Born Adolph Friedrich Erdmann, he was one of the great painters of what we now know as Germany. Most of his paintings fall under the historical theme thus following one of the many lines of pictorial realism of the 19th century. As we have mentioned on other occasions, most (if not all) paintings are part of an elaborate system of political propaganda, this included the landscapes of his hometown. However, I consider that this watercolor does not fall into such an explicit category of propaganda, since it even has a comic tone that we usually characterize a comic strip from a newspaper or even a meme.
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Let's analyze the image a bit, in the first panel we observe the arrival of the Death, however, it is shown dressed in a very stylish suit: a top hat with an opulent black coat —a detail that I quite like is that it seems to be that he is taking off his shoes in order not to bring dirt from the dirt into the room, it’s like, “even though I’m coming to take your life, I’m going to be polite”—. At the end of the day, Menzel presents to us a memento mori with a little more humor than we are used to, in the second panel we see death escaping through the window in the background since he was not welcome in. We all know that at the end of the day there will be a time when death comes to visit us, whether we want it or not. It's a comical escape where The Death runs out literally scared to death leaving behind its precious clothing. Away from its characteristic elegance, we see it escaping from the bottles thrown from inside the room (Arce Lemke, 2022).
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Now, the writing or subtitle that we see at the bottom of the first image indicates that there is continuity in the story that Menzel is telling us between both images: Pluscuamperfectum. The meaning as such of this word is "more than perfect" but it is used in verbal conjugations expressing that a thing was already done or about to be done when it was replaced by another. With this in mind, we can imagine that Menzel wants to suggest that in another reality it is possible to have another option to death by replacing it with another fact. The inscription that we see in the second image translates into “always said defenders” alluding to the fact that it is possible to escape death when you make the right decisions, in this case, the people who threw the bottles.
At the end of the day Menzel gives a very important message, not only about the fragility of life, but also that the moment of our death can be dictated by our own decisions. Although Menzel is characterized by his great historical themes, he does not neglect his human experiences and how he deals with them. It is something that is difficult for us to understand since we have grown up mainly with an education that venerates life over anything, where talking about death as a natural process is viewed with aversion. It is the Dionysian that we ignore, what we want to hide but that will always be present at some point in our lives. Death is not our enemy —but it is not our friend either—, in my opinion, it is how we carry out this process that generates a positive or negative experience.
Arce Lemke, J.P. (2022). Huésped no invitado o La visita de la Muerte. Historia del Arte!. Pluscuamperfectum (s.f.) Etimología latín.
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M.I. Flores Nachón
I understand that we are against white and exclusionary speeches, but I feel weak before the request for Piety. Understood as the feeling of mercy, a drop of warm water when you are cold. Within religion, piety goes hand in hand with eternal forgiveness, with the sweet and compassionate eyes of Mary, infinite and protective mother. Mary begged for mercy.
I found it curious that the calendar and thematic heart of Catartica -"Forgotten in the pages of a book" Accepting defeats, illness, tragedy: what remains when there is nothing left?A shoulder to cry? Can we handle everything or do we have to let ourselves be burdened? - tie with the Holy Week celebrations. In a total block, I had no idea what to write for this month, until in a pain foreign to my writing I asked: Why? Why is this happening to me?
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The Virgin Mary understood the destiny of her son Jesus, long before he was conceived. He came to leave and she totally surrenders to the idea, without reproach, understanding the concept of pain for salvation. Or at least that's how the scene was presented, until 1499 allowed us to see Mary question herself. Miguel Ángel Buonarroti, is without a doubt one of the most recognized names in the History of Art. I say this without fear because every time I talk about marble work with visitors in the gallery and mention his name, I get an affirmative nod. For a long time I compared myself to Michelangelo for his impressive career at his young age of 23. He sculpted La Pietá (1499) in San Pedro when he was just 23 years old. Then I start to think that during the Reinassance, an infection in the nail of the big toe could kill you in 3 days, and then I feel better. Other times, other pains, other issues. However, I think Michelangelo and I have similar questions. At 23 years old, he introduced us to Mary the Virgin, how he imagined her. Below is a brief analysis of La Pietá, in San Pedro. It is a sculpture in pyramidal composition, the head of Mary being the highest point of it and her clothes falling, to the head of Jesus on one side, and his leg on the other, draw the two long diagonals that lead to the base. The face of María, focused on the inert body of her son, with a certain resignation and incomprehensible tranquility, in addition to having features that were only related to Michelangelo’s cultural pole, since an inclination towards the Western/Caucasian is noted, happening the same with the face of Jesus, which beyond being lifeless, is seen asleep. Relaxed and delivered.
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The pyramid is almost perfect, obviously understanding that the natural curvature of the head and clothing, breaks the straight line, however, there is only one line perpendicular to the pyramid. A visual line drawn by the hand of Mary that falls slightly above the knee of Jesus. And with that line I understood María, and I understood 23 year-old Michelangelo. A hand that breaks with the body and the mind delivered to fatalistic destiny.
"Why?" asked the hand. We admire Michelangelo, we applaud him over and over without questioning his probable suffering. Faced with rumors of his homosexuality but his closeness to religion and the ecclesiastical institution, Michelangelo endured an illness to which he only asked for mercy. A disease in his mind, a constant denial of his own being and eternal punishment. Perhaps that is why it is punished so severely in the Last Judgment, on the front wall of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo, like the Virgin Mary, like me, we ask for mercy in the face of inescapable destinies.
What remains when nothing remains? Piety, forgiveness and mercy.
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ASSORTMENT
HCIR AESTHETIC 26
I began to intervene photographs about 11 years ago without any artistic purpose, it was until a few months ago that I returned to it again due to a therapeutic and creative need to reinterpret themes of my interest without any intention of capturing emotions, social criticism or anything transgressive, just a whim to converge my tastes in a single image, and although a psychoanalytic interpretation could find my repressed traumas and desires in the collages, this has not been my intention for the moment. I firmly believe that one of the spaces where creativity flourishes is fashion, in particular, editorial fashion. Digging through Vogue issues from more than 60 years ago is where I find perfectly beautiful and curated material, giving me a splash of history and seeing beautiful advertisements for brands that no longer exist. Another great source of information is the cinema, I think I have learned much more by watching movies than in all my high school education. Cinema is art, it is history and creativity, but it also can be mediocre, pretentious, and fun; it converges and distances itself from those who make it and consume it. The level of detail and care that a commercial film can have that makes you feel good, like a cuddle, become undervalued by the snobbery of those who prefer to disguise an artistic status as complex. Tapes that were forgotten and criticized resurface as cult films, and great awards are overshadowed by the terrifying stories of their actors and directors. For a long time in the search for a defined style, I made myself believe that my decisions about tastes were final and I should make a statement about them and not let myself be influenced by trends, but to my surprise, I discovered that these practices only limited me and made me stop to enjoy knowing, I can see everything and grab what I like, it doesn't matter if they don't converge or if they don't exist on the same universe. We are a riot of experiences and intervention of the environment, and we can also not be.
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That said, I have fun with my collages, I like them, they do not have a defined style or have a reflective purpose, however, this could happen to someone. They go for the kitsch, camp, and surreal, they are bits of my young heritage, and although they are like that at the moment, at any moment they can take a more critical and serious course. There are no rules, there are no judges, have fun, take what you like and put it in the blender of imagination, and do it again.
Silenzio Brunno! (digital collage)
After seeing Luca (2021) I couldn't stop comparing it to Call me by your name (2017). In the search for free-use images, I found the work Two Shepherds by the Danish painter Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, a painting of two men outdoors with a slight homoerotic feeling, I placed them in a landscape that combines the work of Claude Monet and a photograph that emulates his house. It was my first landscape orientation collage trying to give it a more cinematic feel.
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House of Maya (digital collage)
Architect Sofia Herfon has a video explaining the design of the Mayan dwelling in the Yucatan peninsula, featuring a wonderful render by Daniel Lucas. Taking advantage of the fact that the render already brings a dreamlike vibe, I found a magnificent editorial photographed by Helmut Newton on Mediterranean fashion for Vogue in 1963 whose models I felt belonged to the same warm essence of the Mayan house wearing Pucci designs in a fantasy Yucatecan oasis. As I mentioned before, architecture is a great source of inspiration for my work as well as fashion, it is through these that we can know what is happening in a given context, it is, therefore, important to highlight the importance of clothing not only in a utilitarian way but as a human drive towards identity. I recommend that you watch Sofia Herfon's video on her YouTube channel about the Mayan home and follow Daniel Lucas (@ dann.lucas) to learn more about her work.
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Without batting an eye (digital collage)
Sometimes the world of fashion scares me a lot, terrible modeling histories, designer scandals, and tyrannical editors that keep an industry always active and avant-garde without limits. I find Irving Penn's work fascinating as it is disturbing and daring, where the model in the name of art submits to artistic direction. Is there any limit to beauty? The red-eye product of hours of work and brush strokes photographed by Penn is fascinating, even more so if one wonders how creative you can be when trying to be original when photographing eyelashes, as Steven Klein recently did with his very long eyelashes that again question us about the vanity Putting both jobs together (Penn and Klein) I already had the mix I liked, I needed a background that would play with the perspective of the eye (ironic?) so I put together photographs I took of Quinta Gameros in Chihuahua, making a building impossible and luminous that manages to merge with the model without distracting attention.
The collages have the seriousness that one grants them. The rules of color and composition remain optional. Taking work from other artists and getting together with another is how new realities arise, leaving a rich assortment of experiences and tastes, turning it around, and always intervening with a sense of fun. I hope you are encouraged to make a collage and share it (or not) and start making your assortment rich aesthetic. @m0uthz m0uthz@gmail.com
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IF I FORGET ABOUT MYSELF If I forget myself, who will I be when the splinter penetrates my chest and I, without opposing myself, succumb to fate, misfortune and, luckily, boredom, who, when I am already unaware of this life that has been so bitter, who will I be when I don't know neither my weight nor my name nor the color of my eyelashes and walk groping around the room when the railings hug me who, when, fed up with the unpleasantness, the smell of chintz, decides to remember this one, who is me now and Of the happiness that I once longed for.
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Victor Rivera
Beneath my shadow there is no light or anything, and what is its true shape, if it deforms from time to time? It is the only part of me that has not belonged to me, it has never been given to me, light as a leaf, so as not to be able to possess it, it becomes heavy, it takes root in the ground, it knows that the hour of its death is approaching, and it clings but suddenlyis born, is born and comes off my fingers and hangs from the branches like cocoons, and there, severed, it looks at me without eyes and knows it is free, it leaves at seven, but it will return tomorrow when it is a butterfly.
Bookcase Clean it until you're exhausted, until sweat and tears rain on the wood, enough to feel dry. Pick a book and open it, the page can be any, but look at it, read it, give it meaning. Find patience in the ordeal, calm in the vortex; not peace, because it is the only thing that cannot be found in a bookcase: there are herds of animals and embankments; fortresses and dragons; plateaus, valleys and hills; and there are also cities, some are huge and some are without joke; and there is death, but also love, and Death in love and love after death… Pass the flannel until the dust -which covers everything- escapes through the window.
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M.I. Flores Nachón
The seventh seal A constant chess game in which Death is challenged, in search of a meaning for life. Bergman's film is steeped in symbolism, bordering on dreams, fantasy, the perverse, the macabre. Totally oneiric and linked to religion in ways that do not even seek to be discreet, Ingmar Bergman makes a film with the most intense human concerns. What is the meaning of life? Faced with the questions that torment us in silent moments, he takes advantage of historical moments in gray; the Middle Age in which the truth was uncertain, the disease was condemnation and the black plague was destiny. Throughout the film we will meet Antonius, who allows us to delve into his mind full of timeless concerns, with nightmares, traumas, and in a certain way, motivation to find a reason. When I see Antonius, I see what is in me, an impostor, a person who has achieved but still with his hands full seeks the meaning of having them, incredulous not only at his success but also at his destiny. Bergman paints Antonius as a gray knight -not only because of the bichromatic nature of the film- to a certain extent nihilistic, given over to a single answer:
Nothing. 33
How fantastic is the movie if it discusses such real issues as existential doubts and facing an end point? The seventh seal according to biblical tradition is complete silence. Trying to understand the film from this is the challenge, because then Bergman displaces his anguish more than in death, in the silence - of God probably. It is now more interesting to take into account the production context of the film. 1957 after a threat as great as World War II, an anguish like Antonius's was totally justified and understandable. Could it be that Bergman worked his film as an allegory for what was happening in his mind and in his environment? Is it also applicable to today's world? To what extent is death a fantasy? Bergman complains to God for his silence in the face of misfortune and calls the search for oneself absurd. As the final credits roll, we end up sighing discontentedly in search of Albert Camus's questions. It is absurd, no matter what has been done, how high you have risen, or how much you have filled your hands, the end is the end. Everything ends up dying in a dance.
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Arterrible.mx Josué Castillo
I am almost graduated in Industrial Design and illustrator from Tijuana Mx. Where I create and design with the intention of spreading my artistic/creative skills to the general public and at the same time, continuing to grow personally. The current illustration was a redesign of another illustration I made a few years ago where it has the same phrase :
"The dude you will never unblock”. This phrase is one of the most important elements of the illustration as it complements it with the drawing, giving it a meaning. The main idea was to be based on Mexican wrestling culture, in the iconic toy dolls where they have the classic pose of the saint and blue demon. I wanted to create a collection based on that idea but over time I came to create only 2 drawings. Where one refers to the iconic pose of the toy and the other drawing of two wrestlers grabbing each other.
*Primera versión de la ilustración
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*Segunda versión de la ilustración
Parte de la colección de Lucha Libre
The meaning can be left open for the public to put their own but at first, the meaning of this piece was very simple, it was a tribute to Mexican wrestlers, and as wrestling is about fighting physically against the opponent, I related it to fighting video games (such as Mortal kombat, King of fighters, Smash bros., etc.) where they have locked characters because you have to complete such challenges to lock them. I also wanted to relate it to collectible cards, that's why the first version of the piece has several layers on the back assimilating that they are several cards. I have heard some meanings about this design and most of the time they relate it to their exes, ex-friends, or irritating people on the internet.. but why is that? Because most people relate it to erasing from their existence that kind of people and they will never unblock them.
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I am currently a FreeLancer, if you like my work, let's work together! @arterrible.mx josuecastillo754@gmail.com
SEXISM Rossanna Huerta 40
IMDb
Before I start with any statement -especially before anyone threatens me for what I am about to write- I have to warn that I am not an expert in cinema and much less am I a "somebody" to dictate in the name of feminism nor in the name of psychology, it is only something I have seen in social media and I think it is necessary to talk a little about the phenomenon that has generated the series Euphoria. Euphoria is an HBO series that narrates the life of several teenagers in their daily life in high school but unlike other series that also deal with various issues of the "coming of age", Euphoria deals with issues such as sex, drugs, emotional trauma and social networks (HBO, 2019). Of course, there are themes in the series that are seen as “whimsical” since it is not something we associate with that stage of our lives, however, something that has resonated with me quite a bit has been the introduction we are presented within the beginning of the chapters for each character. There are times when I relate to Maddie's life, Kat's, or even Cassie's, it's certainly a compact way to give depth to the secondary characters without having to create 200 chapters to get to the same point. These windows into the lives of the characters help us to empathize with them a bit since without this information we would feel even more hatred. Even so, I feel that a lot of resentment has been generated towards one specific character: Cassie.
HBO Max
I don't want to be the devil's advocate and say that she is an innocent victim and should not suffer any consequences for her actions, we just have to see a little more of her context, and instead of mocking and judging her, we should see that she is a reflection of the life that thousands of women live. Cassie is a mirror of the reality of growing up with an absent father, the infant's need to feel affection from her family, and the sexism of society itself, and yet, we humiliate her for the decisions she makes.,. Throughout the second season we follow Cassie's story closely, we know that most of her relationships throughout her life with men have been complicated as they have sexualized her from an early age. I have noticed that the script itself is a bit contradictory considering they were making fun of Kat for not having sex yet at the same time they judge Cassie for being sexually active. Maybe I'm overthinking things but just imagine what it must feel like to have the only reason any man shows interest in you is because you are sexually attractive... at a young age you may even associate that situation like love, and well, we know where that can end up. There is a dialogue you can define in a nutshell:
"Any man who claims to be interested in you [Cassie], beyond having sex with you, is full of shit."
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Let's remember that the stage of adolescence she is going through is not easy, we have all been through dissatisfactions, annoyances, and humiliations as to say that it is Cassie's fault for not being perfect. We ignore an abuser (emotional and physical) who is taking advantage of the emotional weakness his victim presents. We want to see the fight brewing between her and her now ex-best friend only to see her suffer at the hands of another woman, along with "a woman's enemy is always another woman" comments.
I consider the series to be a great example of misogyny, hypersexualization, toxic masculinity, and more but most importantly, it shows how hypocritical we can be as it is bringing out the internalized misogyny we all have that we don't even realize. I would be lying if I said I didn't see myself mirroring Cassie, not in every detail of her life but in several instances, and I have learned thanks to uncomfortable moments, fights, a lot of time in therapy, and having people who just want to see me happy. We often forget that even if it's fiction that's behind the screen, it can also be a person's story.
Where to watch it: HBO Max Temporadas: 2 Capítulos: 18 Creado: Sam Levinson
References: Anya Formozova. [The Take] (5 de abril 2022) Euphoria's Cassie - Why Women Like Her Are Still Judged [video]. Youtube
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Instructions for authors @catarticarevista catarticarevista@outlook.com catarticarevista@gmail.com
If you are interested in participating in the magazine, you should take into account the following guidelines: All manuscripts or works must be sent to the official Catártica mail, with their corresponding translation into English or Spanish. All papers received will be submitted for review by the members of Catártica for their selection and publication. If the editor deems it pertinent, he may make changes and corrections in the writing and style of the manuscripts. The file must follow the following format: Microsoft Word Arial font Font size in twelve points The upper and lower margins should be 2.5 centimeters and the left and right must be 3 centimeters. The line spacing should be 1.5 The images and illustrations must be cited in APA format and in addition to sending them in the file, attach them in JPG, PNG or PDF format