<i>Espèce de Catalogue</i> et al.: Collection and Montage in Lourdes Castro’s Artists’ Books

This article reflects on Lourdes Castro’s artists’ books, with a particular focus on the 1961 Espèce de Catalogue , which is paradigmatic of Lourdes Castro’s process and a privileged window into her world, with an array of references to her work and life and their inevitable intertwinement. With more than 100 pages, it collects images of her aluminium assemblages and collages (mainly photographic proofs), newspaper and magazine clippings, and a small notebook with an index of these works. Our reflection, then, ventures to imagine how an otherness that marks Castro’s books can account for a gendered creative process that is not just facilitated but also actively shaped through the creation of artists’ books. The discussion extends to the crucial role of collection and montage in moulding this process in a constant dialogue between politics and poetics, or a sympoiesis , following Donna Haraway, and attuned to the artist’s unique approach to art-making and living.