Looking for a Sign: Contemporary Art, Magic, and Language, Kerry Guinan

In a culture dominated by prescriptive rationality, and the reduction of language to functions, Looking for a Sign champions the intersectional practices of art and magic, exploring their capacity to invoke a profound dimension of reality that transcends the limitations of language. Comprising essays, reflections, and artworks from a group of international artists and curators — Aaron Gach (The Center for Tactical Magic), Annie Kwan, Anri Sala, Linda Stupart, and Kerry Guinan and Frank Sweeney (The Order of Co-operative Consciousness) — the volume reflects and interrogates an inquisitive turn towards magic in contemporary art. For these practitioners, magic is a potentially political and emancipatory practice, which challenges normative, rational frameworks, expands the horizons of reality, and restores one’s sense of personal and social agency. With an eclectic set of contributions that range from instructive spells to curatorial propositions and academic essays, Looking for a Sign is an indispensable resource for those seeking respite from the relentless codification of our collective existence.

Durty Books (2018 - present) is an independent publishing house based in Ireland and co-created by artist Kate O’ Shea and designer Victoria Brunetta. Their first publication, Durty Words: A space for dialogue, solidarity, resistance and creation (2018), featured 134 international contributors and encapsulates their approach to publishing.

Durty Books aims to provide a critical space and platform for prominent and emerging voices across art, design, community organising, academia and activism who challenge hegemonic social and political structures and offer imaginative alternatives. Durty Books believes in the power of sharing stories of collective action, solidarity and resistance across the world to build networks of solidarity and empower social change through the creative potential of print and publishing.

Published by Durty Books
Edited by Kerry Guinan
Softcover
92 pages
110 x 175 mm
ISBN: 9781739103217