​WHISKERY SQUID (MEMOIRS)

10.26. 2020​​

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EVEN THE BODY CAN TAKE OVER LANGUAGE WHEN YOU ARE REFUSING TO SEE

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THROUGH A SELF-PRESCRIBED FRAGMENTARY FORMALISM, WHISKERY SQUID SPEAKS AS MEMOIRS IN MEMORIES. THE POEMS AND LYRIC ESSAYS IN THIS COLLECTION DISSOCIATE FROM THE MANTLE OF SILENCE: WHEN CAN TOO MUCH BE VIOLENCE? IS BROKENNESS SUCH A THREAT? WHISKERY SQUID IS A RECEIPT OF ACCEPTANCE; SUBTERRANEAN DRILLS INTO HUMAN HOURS; TENTACLES BEYOND A SINGLE SELF; SURREAL ECHOES. IT EMBODIES AN EXPANDED SENSE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO MEMOIR: TO BREATHE, NEVER EXCLUDING THOSE DANK MINUTES; TO HEAL AD INFINITUM; COMMINGLING TIMESCAPES; TO FAIL FORWARD; TO PRESS BODY TO ANOTHER; BE IN OCEANIC CONVERSATION.

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AS AN ART BOOK MADE IN COLLABORATION WITH ALEXANDER SI, THE FRAGMENTS TRANSCEND MERE TEXT INTO A PERFORMATIVE-INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE. TWO HANDS MAKING THIS ONE THING BLURS CONVENTIONAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE MEMOIR. IN CRACKS AND COOL CUTS,  WHISKERY SQUID RAISES SALUTATIONS TO HEARTS WELL PULPED, WELL ALIVE.

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ADÉOLÁ OLÁKÌÍTÁN IS A WRITER AND TRANSDISCIPLINARY CURATOR WORKING BETWEEN LAGOS AND NEW YORK. THEIR PRAXIS IS INVESTED IN POETICS, MARGINAL TECHNOPOLITICS, AND QUEER SPIRITATIONS. OLÁKÌÍTÁN IS CURRENTLY RESEEDING QRA33 AND IS A CURATORIAL FELLOW OF PUNK ORIENTALISM BASED IN NYC.

 

ALEXANDER SI IS A NEW YORK-BASED MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST, CURATOR, AND PUBLISHER. HIS MULTIDISCIPLINARY ART PRACTICE CONCERNS THE MODERN CYCLE OF MEDIA PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION AND THEIR LONG-TERM EFFECT ON MENTAL HEALTH AND SELF-IDENTITY. SI IS CURRENTLY A DUAL-PROGRAM FELLOW AT THE ELIZABETH FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS.

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