I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: .

[READ: August 6, 2024] Artforum

I’d been a pretty avid reader of César Aira.  Of course it is impossible to read everything he’s written.  Not only because most of his books haven’t been translated into English but because his bio blurb states “he has published at least one hundred books.”

So, yea.  I assumed that my library would have all of the ones I hadn’t read yet (about 5) but i was surprised they only had this one.

So this book is a collection of stories/essays/musings/thoughts mostly centered around the magazine Artforum.  They were written between 1983 and 2013.  They are gathered in a (very) vague narrative style.  But they all deal with his obsession with this magazine.

Aira is a weird writer.  His books are short.  They seem to be stream of consciousness–as if he starts writing, lets his thoughts go where they will and then just stops.  These short pieces are more focused, but not all of them are focused.  He’s a fun read to be sure.

The Sacrifice (1983)
He left a window open and it rained on his beloved Artforum.  But the magazine seemed to absorb all of the water to protect the other magazines beneath it.

The Beggar (1997)
He thinks about how when he gives a little money to a beggar it is meaningful to the beggar but not really to him (if he can afford it).  But then he thinks about the cost of an Artforum and how meaningful that is to him and how sometimes things are more meaningful than you realize.

Subscription (2002)
It’s hard to find Artforum in Buenos Aires, and he often considered it a great day when he walked into a books store and saw the new issue.  So why not just subscribe?  But when he did, sometimes issues didn’t show up–was it the mail system? the mail carriers?   It ends with him making a sacrifice for his beloved magazine.

Twenty-four Issues of Artforum (2003)
What happens when your friend tells you that the used book store received a collector’s collection of Artforum?  How many is too many to buy?

The Clothespins (–)
This story has nothing to do with Artforum that I can see.  A series of clothespins begin breaking in his house–have they just lost what holds them together?

Conjectures (2003)
Was there a cosmic connection between when the Artforum arrived and the day that the cleaners cleaned the foyer of his building?  He certainly began to think so.

A New Calendar (–)
If an issue did not arrive, he began adding up the days of the next month to the previous month to indicate how long he had been waiting for the previous issue.  It is the 6th of December, but the November issue has not arrived yet, to him it is November 36th.

Melancholy (2003)
When the new issue doesn’t arrive, there is but one feeling.

My Very Own Artforum (2013)
He thought to himself that while he was waiting for the next issue to arrive, he should just make his own issue–a tribute to the beauty of the magazine he loves so much.

untitled (–)
One day Artfoum stopped coming (it is still in existence) and there was no explanation.  His foolish friends told him that he just wouldn;t be caught up on the latest art trends–had they no idea that that was never why he read the magazine?

untitled (–)
This is a brief musing about Adam, the first man (nothing to do with Artforum).