I’m not sure I remember all of our names / No estoy seguro en nuestros nombres: Difference between revisions
| Line 53: | Line 53: | ||
==<b>Ahoacaquáhuitl</b>== | ==<b>Ahoacaquáhuitl</b>== | ||
'''Of the Ahoacaquáhuitl or tree resembling the oak which bears fruit''' | '''Of the ''Ahoacaquáhuitl'' or tree resembling the oak which bears fruit''' | ||
A large tree with citrus leaves, greener, wider, and more scattered; bearing small flowers, white with yellow; the fruit has the shape of an egg, but it is much larger in some respects, it is more like a wild fig in shape and size, black on the outside, greenish on the inside, of a creamy texture like that of lard and with the flavour of walnuts. The leaves are fragrant and of a hot and dry temperament of the second order, for which they are conveniently used in lavatories. The fruits are also hot, pleasant to taste, and of a not insignificant nutritional quality, rather creamy, moist, and one which extraordinarily benefits the venereal appetite and augments semen; They contain white pits with some reddish tones, solid, heavy, glossy, and split into two halves like an almond, though oblong in shape and a little larger than the eggs of a dove. These bones have the flavour of a bitter almond, and produce when pressed an oil similar to that of the almond not just in smell, but also in taste and its other properties. It cures rashes, scars, favours the dysenteric bearing any astringency, and avoids the splitting of hairs. The tree has leaves the whole year, and grows in all regions spontaneously or under cultivation, although it grows more easily and reaches greater heights in warm plains. | A large tree with citrus leaves, greener, wider, and more scattered; bearing small flowers, white with yellow; the fruit has the shape of an egg, but it is much larger in some respects, it is more like a wild fig in shape and size, black on the outside, greenish on the inside, of a creamy texture like that of lard and with the flavour of walnuts. The leaves are fragrant and of a hot and dry temperament of the second order, for which they are conveniently used in lavatories. The fruits are also hot, pleasant to taste, and of a not insignificant nutritional quality, rather creamy, moist, and one which extraordinarily benefits the venereal appetite and augments semen; They contain white pits with some reddish tones, solid, heavy, glossy, and split into two halves like an almond, though oblong in shape and a little larger than the eggs of a dove. These bones have the flavour of a bitter almond, and produce when pressed an oil similar to that of the almond not just in smell, but also in taste and its other properties. It cures rashes, scars, favours the dysenteric bearing any astringency, and avoids the splitting of hairs. The tree has leaves the whole year, and grows in all regions spontaneously or under cultivation, although it grows more easily and reaches greater heights in warm plains. | ||
'''Of the second Ahoacaquáhuitl or mountain ahoácatl''' | '''Of the second ''Ahoacaquáhuitl'' or mountain ''ahoácatl''''' | ||
It has smaller leaves, a more reddish trunk and branches, and much smaller fruit than the wild or orchard variety, not exceeding the size of the Damascene Plum; in every other way it is of the same form and nature. It grows in uncultivated, rough, and mountainous environments. | It has smaller leaves, a more reddish trunk and branches, and much smaller fruit than the wild or orchard variety, not exceeding the size of the Damascene Plum; in every other way it is of the same form and nature. It grows in uncultivated, rough, and mountainous environments. | ||
Revision as of 22:14, 9 July 2020
Sameen Mahboubi, Oscar Alfonso & Relations
2020
Avocado Seedlings, Stories
El Proyecto
I’m not sure I remember all of our names / No estoy seguro en nuestros nombres is a reflection on expectations and relationships: about the family members Oscar missed out on as a kid in Vancouver, of the friends he left to move to Toronto, and of all of the other folks who have entered, left, remained, or moved on, into so many other directions.
Honestly, I’m not sure I remember all of our names. Living through a pandemic no one wants, he currently rents and owns nothing that can be called home, is still in school, and has no child. In Mexico City, he at least has his avocado trees. Relations were invited to provide stories for these trees by responding with narratives that connected with ideas of travel, diaspora, expectations, obsolescence, or stationariness.
As with all diasporic storytelling, responses came from various unexpected sources: close friends, mentors, adoptive aunts, and the occasional hook-up. For now, and forever, our children they will be.
Hello!
So I know it’s been many months now, but I’m apparently twenty-seven and a half which means that I’m older than both of my parents were when I was born. Alas, I currently rent and own nothing that can be called home, am still in school, have no child, and am like most (all) of you living through a pandemic that we were not planning for.
Somehow in grad school, and quarantining en la Ciudad de Mexico I’ve been thinking a lot about expectations and about relationships. About the family members I missed out on as a kid in Vancouver, of the friends I left in order to go to Toronto, and of all of the other folks who have entered, left, remained, or moved on, into so many other directions. Honestly, I’m not sure I remember all of our names.
But I’m currently working on a project that I would like to invite you to be a part of. I’m not sure I remember all of our names / No estoy seguro en nuestros nombres is part of an online group exhibition called What you see is what you mean that I’m participating in with my 1st year classmates in the Masters of Visual Studies Program at the University of Toronto. This online exhibition is a collaboration with Sameen Mahboubi and three other curators from Hearth in Toronto and is included in Vector Festival, organized by InterAccess in Toronto.
This project largely revolves around my reading to a small cluster of Avocado seedlings in order to engage in a parenting relationship that is rooted in diasporic-pandemic storytelling. I would like the stories that I read and share to come from the folks I know, or have known, in the course of my own life. For now, and forever, our children they will be.
What does diasporic-pandemic storytelling look like to an avocado tree?
There are several threads here:
The first thread is institutional and it is about ~self~ in the case of these Avocado trees this narrative thread will include Mexica codices, Spanish narrative descriptions from the 16th century, contemporary export norms, lessons on how to prepare guacamole, heck, maybe even a superbowl ad. I’ve grown up in schools so this thread is my jam.
The stories that I would like to encounter and share from those in my own relationship networks carry the rest of the narrative.
The second thread arises from the Avocados as a species that co-evolved, originally rooted in a symbiotic relationship with now extinct prehistoric megafauna that would eat them and disperse the avocado seeds in widespread Avocado forests. This thread is about obsolescence. What is no more? What can no longer be done? Who is now gone?
Relations
Desde Maria Hupfield
Desde Paola Quiros
Desde Joni Cheung
Desde Stephanie Durán Castillo
Desde Danni Gárate Cubillos
Desde Davey Samuel Calderon
Desde Emny Moghrabi
Desde Jin-me Yoon
Desde Joseph Nomellini
Desde Giulio
Desde Oscar Mauricio Bernardo Lira Espinosa
Ahoacaquáhuitl
Of the Ahoacaquáhuitl or tree resembling the oak which bears fruit
A large tree with citrus leaves, greener, wider, and more scattered; bearing small flowers, white with yellow; the fruit has the shape of an egg, but it is much larger in some respects, it is more like a wild fig in shape and size, black on the outside, greenish on the inside, of a creamy texture like that of lard and with the flavour of walnuts. The leaves are fragrant and of a hot and dry temperament of the second order, for which they are conveniently used in lavatories. The fruits are also hot, pleasant to taste, and of a not insignificant nutritional quality, rather creamy, moist, and one which extraordinarily benefits the venereal appetite and augments semen; They contain white pits with some reddish tones, solid, heavy, glossy, and split into two halves like an almond, though oblong in shape and a little larger than the eggs of a dove. These bones have the flavour of a bitter almond, and produce when pressed an oil similar to that of the almond not just in smell, but also in taste and its other properties. It cures rashes, scars, favours the dysenteric bearing any astringency, and avoids the splitting of hairs. The tree has leaves the whole year, and grows in all regions spontaneously or under cultivation, although it grows more easily and reaches greater heights in warm plains.
Of the second Ahoacaquáhuitl or mountain ahoácatl
It has smaller leaves, a more reddish trunk and branches, and much smaller fruit than the wild or orchard variety, not exceeding the size of the Damascene Plum; in every other way it is of the same form and nature. It grows in uncultivated, rough, and mountainous environments.
Sites
- In progress*
This project was carried out in Mexico City on the former lakeshore of el Lago de Texcoco in the vicinity of the rivers Tacubaya, Becerra, y de la Piedad which were progressively buried and entombed in concrete between 1949 and 1956. Mixcoac forms part of what is known by the Mexica as Anáhuac, or "that situated near or between waters."