Portable City Projects: Economy of Gesture

Workshop with Owen Driggs, Evelyn Serrano, and Felipe Zuñiga

In his revolutionary essay The New Art of Making Books (1965, Mexico City), Ulises Carrion states that: “the introduction of space into poetry (or rather of poetry into space) is an enormous event, literally of incalculable consequences”.

Inspired by this powerful statement Economy of Gesture appropriates Sign Spinning – a contemporary advertising practice popular in southern California – to open a platform for experimentation and inquiry that asks who is authorized to speak in the city, how, when and where?

At LACE on August 26th, Owen Driggs, Evelyn Serrano and Felipe Zuñiga will discuss Economy of Gesture with Jules Rochielle of Portable City Project and offer a workshop. Owen Driggs will throw some interesting writing prompts to participants to explore possibilities in the coupling of image and word. Evelyn Serrano and Felipe Zuñiga will work on the formal production of the sign, utilizing various supports and materials to create unique signs, and the development of individual and group performative actions suited to each sign.

Anglo-American artist team Owen Driggs lives and works in Los Angeles. Team members have backgrounds in painting, sculpture, writing and curation and, individually, have exhibited around the world.

Evelyn Serrano is a Cuban interdisciplinary artist, educator, independent curator, community organizer, and mother currently living in Los Angeles County, California. Serrano obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts, School of Art, in Valencia, California. www.evelynserrano.net

Felipe Zuñiga is a Mexican visual artist. lives and works in Tijuana, Baja California. Zuñiga obteined a Master of Fine Arts degree from University of California San Diego (UCSD) and Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, UNAM in Mexico.