What Are We Before We Are Naturalized?

By Pedro Lasch

This illustrated bilingual publication catalogs twelve years of archival materials from Pedro Lasch's Naturalizations series (2002-15) and presents new works created during the artist's Provisions research residency in Washington, D.C. (2013-14). Consisting of the production and distribution of various kinds of rectangular mirror masks, all to be used in specific social situations, the process and title of the series also invites participants to constantly question the "natural" and those institutions--religious, mythological, or governmental--that claim not only to know what is "natural" but are even ready to issue their own stamps of "naturalization." Over the years, the series has included interventions in public spaces, schools, grassroots settings, university seminars, publications, and museum installations, as well as artworks in traditional media such as photography, painting, sculpture, dance, and theater. Taking place in many cities and countries around the world, Naturalizations projects have included hundreds of participants and dozens of partnering institutions. In D.C., Lasch worked with Provisions Library to collaborate with various individuals and organizations, hosting interventions at The Phillips Collection, National Gallery of Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Latino Center, and George Mason University. This publication, beautifully designed by Amy Ruth Buchanan, concludes the D.C. projects. The text by Provisions directors Don Russell and Stephanie Sherman explores the overlapping histories and processes of Provisions Library and the multi-year mirror mask series by Lasch. Critical essays by Ta?na Caragol (National Portrait Gallery), Molly Donovan (National Gallery of Art), and Kristy Maruca (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden), focus on different aspects of the project as they relate to current debates in national and international culture. Ovidiu Tichindeleanu introduces the works from the archive section. The scholarly, pedagogical, and curatorial perspectives of these co-authors help to address wider concerns regarding art and social change--the politics of memory, identity, portraiture, citizenship, and abstraction--as amplified in the charged cultural and political landscape of Washington, D.C.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0692525262
• ISBN13: 9780692525265
• Release Date: October 2015
• Publisher: Provisions Library
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.5" x 11.0"