Author Description

This first North American monograph on Mexican artist Damian Ortega documents 10 years of work focused on conceptual practice, social organization, and humor, including the installations and performances that make up his acclaimed Beetle Trilogy, several works never before exhibited and a great deal of unpublished material. Most of what's here hasn't been seen before. The first episode of the trilogy, "The Cosmic Thing," a disassembled Volkswagen suspended in the air, was featured in Gabriel Orozco's Il Quotidiano Alterato at the 2003 Venice Biennale, and was one of the most widely reproduced images of that year's exhibition. "Moby Dick," a heroic action involving the artist's Beetle, a live band, ropes and pulleys, followed, and then "Beetle '83 Escarabajo," a ritual return to the vehicle's place of birth, closed the cycle. The Beetle Trilogy and Other Works includes a new comic, 150 color images and an original essay by Hari Kunzru, author of The Impressionist and one of Granata's 20 "Best Young British Novelists" in 2003.