GABRIEL OROZCO

edited by Yve-Alain Bois

essays and interviews by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Jean Fisher, Guy Brett, Molly Nesbit, Gabriel Orozco, Briony Fer, and Yve-Alain Bois

OCTOBER FILES 9

The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England © 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Unless otherwise noted, all images are courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.

Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data

Gabriel Orozco / edited by Yve-Alain Bois. p. cm.—(October fi les) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0- 262- 01318-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0- 262- 51301-2 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Orozco, Gabriel, 1962—Criticism and interpretation. I. Orozco, Gabriel, 1962–. II. Bois, Yve-Alain. N6559.O76G33 2009 709.2—dc22 2009003625

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Acknowledgments

“Refuse and Refuge” by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh and “The Sleep of Wakefulness” by Jean Fisher were originally published in Gabriel Orozco, the catalog of an exhibition curated by Catherine de Zegher at the Kanaal Art Foundation, Kortijk (Belgium), in 1993. “Gabriel Orozco: The Sculpture of Everyday Life” by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh fi rst appeared in the exhibition catalog Gabriel Orozco, edited by Bernard Bürgi and Bettina Marbach (Zurich: Kunsthalle, 1996).“Between Work and World: Gabriel Orozco” by Guy Brett was fi rst published as “The Light Touch” in Empty Club: Gabriel Orozco (London: Artangel Afterlives, 1998). “The Tempest” by Molly Nesbit was fi rst published in the exhibition catalog Gabriel Orozco, edited by Alma Ruiz (Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 2000). Gabriel Orozco’s “Lecture,” delivered on January 30, 2001, at the Rufi no Tamayo in Mexico City, was originally published in Spanish in Textos sobre la obra de Gabriel Orozco (Mexico: Turner Publicationes, 2005). It is published in English for the fi rst time here. The conversation with Benjamin H. D. Buchloh took place on July 1, 2004, at the Goethe Institute in London, in con- junction with the artist’s exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery. It is published here for the fi rst time. “Spirograph: The Circular Ruins of Drawing” by Briony Fer and “Cosmic Reifi cation: Gabriel Orozco’s Photographs” by Benjamin H. D. Buchloh were fi rst published in the exhibition catalog Gabriel Orozco (London: Serpentine Gallery, 2004). “Crazy about Saturn,” an interview with the artist by Briony Fer, as well as “The Tree and the Knight” by Yve-Alain Bois, were fi rst pub- lished in the exhibition catalog Gabriel Orozco, edited by Alexandra x Acknowledgments

Garcia Ponce (Mexico City: Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, and Turner Publicationes, 2006).

I would like fi rst to thank the authors for their willingness to participate in this project, as well as Gabriel Orozco and the staff of the Marian Goodman Gallery for their help in gathering the included material. I would also like to thank the Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, and Kurimanzutto, Mexico City. A special debt of gratitude is due to Adam Lehner and Rachel Churner for their editorial assistance; to Kavior Moon for proofreading and indexing help; and to Ryan Reineck for his electronic expertise and last-minute aid.