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Oscar Salguero

@softcoreny

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Curator | Researcher | Interspecies Library | Interspecies Futures | NEO MINERALIA
Founder @interspecieslibrary
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I’m thrilled to announce that my newest curatorial project, Journal of Therolinguistics, at Descanso Gardens (@descansogardens) opens to the public this Saturday. Inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin story “The Author of the Acacia Seeds and other Extracts from The Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics”, the exhibition explores interspecies communication within tree ecologies, focusing on plants, lichen, beavers, birds, bats, beetles, and more. Featuring works by Aistė Ambrazevičiūtė (@aiste_ambrazeviciute), Alice Bucknell (@alicebucknell), Lucio Arese (@lucioarese), Marianne Hoffmeister Castro (@marianne.hoffmeister), Nicole Brugger (@nclbrggr), as well as new commissions by Paige Emery (@paigeemery_) and Audax M. Gawler (@audax__audax) & Pri Bertucci (@pribertucci_o_profeta_queer) If you’re in LA, please join us for the opening reception this Friday, March 20, from 5–7pm at the Boddy House at Descanso Gardens! More details coming up! Graphics by Darius Ou @darius_ou taken in Descanso Gardens by @softcoreny
16
7 months ago
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Introducing Decentral Intelligence Agency [DIA] Developed since January, it was originally meant to be the title of my exhibition “Decentering Strategies: Books as Portals to More-than-human Worlds” at Design Center Gallery, Pratt Institute (Feb 26 - Mar 8, 2024). Decentral Intelligence Agency stands for: Decentering Strategies [de-anthropocentrism] Intelligences Beyond the Human [plurality of umwelten] Agency of Organisms and Objects [vibrant matter] DIA is not an agency, but a platform for agential realism. [DI / DA / IA] This concept will manifest as printed matter and activations. It was first published in FABS (Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies) Spring 2024 edition, as a chapter in my essay “Notes from Interspecies Library”. Currently, it is being featured as a column for Thriving Planet, one of the themes of the Changing Gears program by 4TU.Design United, the research center for design at TU Delft. Thanks @egekokel for the invitation. I will present some original prints at @singaporeartbookfair this October! Logo design in collaboration with the brilliant Darius Ou @darius_ou and inspired by Physarum polycephalum. Slides 3-4: Process from CIA to DIA by @softcoreny
22
2 years ago
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A Therolinguistics Manifesto or How to Approach Nonhuman Languages Poetically By Interspecies Library @interspecieslibrary 2023 Graphic design by @darius_ou #therolinguistics by @softcoreny
17
3 years ago
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It’s been a busy week of closing events, but in case you missed them, Mari Nagem’s (@mari_nagem) solo show, “The Tropics, The Moon, and Mars,” has been extended until October 10th! Thank you to all who joined us last Saturday for a day of curated selects with Interspecies Library (@interspecieslibrary) founder Oscar Salguero. This selection of artists books, made by Salguero in response to Nagem’s exhibition, explored speculative geological, oceanic, vegetal, and animal relationships that align with the themes and concepts of the show. Check out Interspecies Library’s profile for more info about upcoming projects. The one-day activation utilized Nagem’s adaptable work “space analog” as a display surface for the books. The work is informed by research on human travel to space conducted at Biosphere 2. Throughout the exhibition, it has served as a platform for discussion, making, and collective gathering. Learn more and see additional photos at 🔗 in bio. Stop by during gallery hours (Wed–Sat, 12–6 pm) through October 10th to see the exhibition in person! 📸: @ng.nyc taken in CUE Art Foundation by @softcoreny
7
22 days ago
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Join us at CUE on Saturday, 9/19, the eve of Climate Week NYC, for a day of curated selects with Interspecies Library (@interspecieslibrary). ✨ Founder Oscar Salguero (@softcoreny) will bring a selection of artists’ books to CUE, and visitors are invited to browse, chat, and hang out in the gallery. The selection explores speculative geological, oceanic, vegetal, and animal relationships, in conversation with the themes and concepts of Mari Nagem’s (@mari_nagem) solo show, “The Tropics, The Moon, and Mars.” At 5 pm, join us for a presentation and happy hour, during which Salguero will share more about the library and the curated selection. Interspecies Library is the first archive dedicated to the curation and advancement of artists’ books focused on alternative interspecies futures. The growing collection aspires to reflect our changing attitudes toward and in acknowledgment of more-than-human worlds. All are welcome to come and go throughout the day. RSVP is appreciated but not required; see link in bio. (And come back on 9/22 for Space Meal with @tessitanyc during the final week of the show!) 📸: @ng.nyc taken in CUE Art Foundation by @softcoreny
12
a month ago
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Artwork Catalogue design for 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 exhibition at @descansogardens, curated by @softcoreny based on @ursulakleguin's short story. – 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛-𝚙𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 On the topic of relatedness, the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 has benefited not only from interspecies collaboration, but also from the generosity of related publications. In 1983, the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 ceased publication due to a lack of funding for the Association’s endeavours, compounded by an accident involving its in-house rotary press. The 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 subsequently turned to 𝘊𝘰𝘌𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, a sister publication exploring alternative ecological futures, to co-publish its findings. This relationship allowed the Association to focus its resources on groundwork and discovery while continuing to disseminate its findings through the 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺’s wider readership, eventually contributing to renewed funding in the decades that followed. In 2026, 43 years after publication ceased, the decision was made to relaunch the printed edition of the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴. For the relaunched 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭, the Department of Human Communications’ design team developed its layout and typesetting in reference to 𝘊𝘰𝘌𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺, retaining its dual-column grid as a reminder of this shared history. The columns are then interjected with house-style centralised text blocks that intricately wrap around one another, bringing two different typographic sensibilities into relation, each working with and around the other. The resulting typographic layout reflects not only the interspecies relationships (at the heart of therolinguistics) 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, but also the inter-publication kinship that sustained the 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 across 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. Relativity taught us to think of 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 as inseparable. What we learned from therolinguistics is relatedness: to relate is to hold 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 and 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 together. 𝙶. 𝚆𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝙰𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚜 #therolinguistics taken in Descanso Gardens by @softcoreny
9
a month ago
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Journal of Therolinguistics featured in Library of America @libraryofamerica this past August 6. “In Le Guin’s lore, the Journal of Therolinguistics ceased publication in 1983, following cutbacks in government research funding and the malfeasance of certain editors. But Salguero and his fellow devotees of this recondite field are bringing it back, inviting us nonexperts to bask in the glories of “Weasel murder mysteries, or Batrachian erotica, or the tunnel sagas of the earthworm.” by @softcoreny
6
2 months ago
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This Saturday, join me for a conversation hosted by Laura Brody @a.laurabrody, founder of Opulent Mobility (@opulentmobility) We’ll discuss my latest curatorial project, Journal of Therolinguistics, presented at Descanso Gardens from March 21–July 5, 2026, which featured the works of eight international artists exploring more-than-human languages in the context of a botanical garden. To join via Zoom, follow the link in my bio. Donations will benefit the Wild Bird Fund @wildbirdfund! Image: A Study of Beaverness by Marianne Hoffmeister Castro. Photo by Yubo Dong. by @softcoreny
0
3 months ago
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Identity & graphic lore for @interspecieslibrary لօմɾղąӀ օƒ ͲհҽɾօӀìղցմìʂէìcs Exhibition @descansogardens , based on @ursulakleguin's story 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴. — During one of the Department of Glyphs' field excursions in the forests of Japan, researchers established a temporary station and affixed the Department's signage to its walls. In the forest's spring humidity, however, the signage adhesive began to fail. One by one, the letters loosened from the wall and fell to the floor, dispersed and scattered. Shortly thereafter, an unfamiliar manuscript was found inscribed on one of the trees near the station’s entrance, bearing a marked resemblance to the fallen signage. It was discovered later that a Ursus thibetanus subject (Asian black bear) had encountered the fallen letterforms and, interpreting their accidental arrangement as a human word, incorporated it into ursine lexicon as the word 𝘨𝘭𝘺𝘱𝘩 [prior to this event, therolinguistic records indicate no ursine equivalent of the concept 𝘨𝘭𝘺𝘱𝘩, only terms approximating 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬 or 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯]. It was said that the bear subject had clawed the manuscript onto the tree trunk overnight for wayfinding. After the incident was reported to the Association of Therolinguistics. the then-President, rather than dismissing it as a curiosity, recommended that the manuscript be adopted as the emblem of a Departmental Studies division: Deep Composition and Inscribed Memory. It subsequently became the first instance of what would later develop into the Association's tradition of departmental emblems. Decades later, reflecting on the episode, the then-President remarked in an interview: “...it was amazing, what the bear did. I had been thinking about how much [the Association] had accomplished in the decades, but at the same time, how much we have misinterpreted?… The signage falling onto the floor is a great reminder of how much we do not know. Back then, [the Association] had just started a new Department for the Studies of Tellurian & Volcanic Poetry. A thought had been on my mind: If the earth could speak, would gravity not be one of the ways it lays down its words?” taken in Los Angeles, California by @softcoreny
5
4 months ago
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Lettering and identity design for the Journal of Therolinguistics exhibition at @descansogardens , curated by @interspecieslibrary. Based on @ursulakleguin's short story, "The Author of the Acacia Seeds" introduced therolinguistics as a fictional field dedicated to the translation of languages, art, and literature beyond the human. — To relate is to be in each other’s time and space. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Association of Therolinguistics, a new visual identity was commissioned. Conceived as an exploration of the relationship between human and more-than-human subjects, the identity was developed around a typographic principle termed "typographic relationalism". Letterforms are generated through their relationships with adjacent letters, making form contingent on context rather than fixed or in isolation. Through progressive accumulation of stroke elements, letterforms build upon one another until spatial saturation, after which the causal process begins anew. Each letter is shaped by both memory and anticipation: a first letter already bears the form of what it needs to become. As a result, same letters may take different forms depending on typographic contexts. Baselines and letter case hierarchies are abandoned in favour of stroke alignments. As the then-President observed: “It is possible that Time, the essential element, matrix, and measure of all known animal art, does not enter into vegetable art at all. The plants may use the meter of eternity. We do not know.” Following correspondence with flora & mycota subjects, the Department of Chrono suggested that the new identity incorporate the element of time into both its conception and reception. In contrast to the immediacy sought by human-centric branding, the identity unfolded over a century through a 100-frame kinetic sequence, with a new frame adopted as the wordmark yearly. Though not atemporal, the project sought to challenge human temporal scales. 🍄 — [15] Inspired by Le Guin’s story (16), the Journal’s wordmark omits tittles from its “i”s, subtly recalling the ant author’s acacia-seed writing and gestures toward the accommodation of more-than-human forms of communication. taken in Los Angeles, California by @softcoreny
4
4 months ago
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What can we learn from the languages of plants, animals, water, and soil? Journal of Therolinguistics at Descanso Gardens brings together eight international artists whose immersive installations, soundscapes, videos, and participatory works explore forms of communication beyond the human. Curated by Oscar Salguero and inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin’s concept of “therolinguistics,” the exhibition invites visitors to slow down, listen, and consider the expressive worlds of nonhuman life. Read the full article on Art and Cake. Link in bio! 📍 Journal of Therolinguistics is on view at the Boddy House, Descanso Gardens through July 5, 2026. by @softcoreny
4
4 months ago
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“What is the language of bat senses and beaver teethmarks? How does water communicate to soil and roots, and how do we translate the paths left by burrowing insects or the markings of trees? These are questions asked by the Journal of Therolinguistics exhibition at Descanso Gardens’ Boddy House, on view now until July 5, 2026. “ Thanks A. Laura Brody for the thoughtful review of Journal of Therolinguistics on Art and Cake @artandcakela ! A. Laura is the founder of Opulent Mobility, a series of exhibits that re-imagine disability as opulent and powerful. by @softcoreny
0
4 months ago
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