PSALMODIA NATURALIS (IN XÓCHITL, IN CUÍCATL)

2020-2022

In iollosuchitl,
in teuizquisuchitl,
in cacaoasuchitl,
in elosuchitl,
in tecomasuchitl,
in tlapalomisuchitl: vncan viuitoliuhtoc,
auiastoc,
maxeliuhtimani,
teucuitlaauachpepeiuciotoc.

[ENG]
The Shouthern magnolia [Magnolia Grandiflora],
the divine izquixochitl [Bourreria huanita],
the cacao flower,
the magnolia [Magnolia dealbata],
the golden cup flower,
the colourful omixochitl [Polianthes tuberosa],
there they rest twisting,
they rest fragant,
they spread out,
they rest shimmering like golden dew.

La yolloxochitl,
la divina izquixochitl,
la cacaoaxochitl,
la eloxochitl,
la tecomaxochitl,
la colorada omixochitl, allá se tienden torciéndose,
se tienden fragando,
se extienden desparramándose,
se tienden brillando como rocío de oro.

[ENG] "in the new work «Psalmodia Naturalis (in xochitl, in cuicatl)», (2020-2022, Mal uses botany, and its links to a geopolitical agenda, as an artifact able to link indigenous thought challenging western scientific tradition. Written within the premises of the colonial convent of Tlatelolco, the long forgotten “Psalmodia Christiana” (1558– -1583), originally envisioned as a book of psalms, is transformed by the artist through a process of unearthing forgotten narratives of place. By reproducing her own version of this text, since the original book is no longer found in its place of origin, now, privately owned and located in the John Carter Brown Llibrary, at Brown University in Providence, Mal excavates new narratives like a reverse archival archeology, the artist constructs a new image by acknowledging the potential of withdrawal as a tool for emergence.

"“Psalmodia Naturalis” is an act of preservation through transmutation that understands landscape as a universal and timeless language form. (...) An immersive process that recognizes marginalized knowledge through its fundamentally deconstructed nature, it understands history as fluid and uses song and breath as not limited to humans— a metaphysical element through which the world exists and communicates back to us." -excerpts from text written by Violeta Burckhardt.

Psalmodia Naturalis (in xóchitl, in cuícatl)

[Psalmodia Naturalis (in xóchitl, in cuícatl)]
Largo Aliento

[A long breath]
Geo-grafías arbóreas

[Tree geo-graphies]
Naturaleza bien muerta

[Very still life]
canto llano cuenca valle

[songs of plain river basin valley]
Temporal

[Tempest]
Pinturas Perdidas: noche azul, árbol, rostro, cielo, dios, brazo, pecho, axila, piernas, hombro, estómago (diálogo con tlacuilos desconocidos, Parroquia de Santiago Tlatelolco, s.XVI)

[Lost Paintings: blue night, tree, face,sky, god, arm, chest, armpit, legs, shoulder, stomach (dialogue with unknown tlacuilos, Parroquia de Santiago Tlatelolco, s.XVI)]
Pinturas Perdidas: ojo, línea, lira, llave, rama, nacimiento (diálogo con Juan Cordero, Templo de Santa Teresa la Antigua. s.XIX)

[Lost Painting: eye, line, lyre, key, stick, birth (dialogue with Juan Cordero, Templo de Santa Teresa la Antigua, s.XIX)]
Sincronía

[Synchrony]
Sublevación, después de Ximeno y Planes (reconstrucción, destrucción y fragmentos)

[Uprising, after Ximeno y Planes (reconstruction, destruction and fragments)]
Variaciones

[Variations]
Reloj de Pulsos

[Pulse Clock]
Invocaciones

[Invocations]
Des/aparecer

[Dis/appear]
Carbón

[Carbon]
Estructuras Invisibles

[Invisible Structures]
Réplica

[Replicare]
Acústica Concreta (Christinenstraße 18-19, 10119, Berlin)

[Concrete Acoustics (Christinenstraße 18-19, 10119, Berlin)]
Acústica Concreta (Calle Dr Mora 7, 06050, Ciudad de México)

[Concrete Acoustics (Calle Dr Mora 7, 06050, Mexico city)]
Aquellos que dijeron nuestras cosas antes que nosotros

[Those who said our things before us]
Apuntes sobre historia material (un organismo museo)

[Notes on material history (a museum organism)]
Campana Perdida

[Lost Bell]
Esculturas Perdidas

[Lost Sculptures]
Negación

[Negation]
[silencio]

[silence]
500 años de Disonancia (Ciudad de México, 1515-2015)

[500 years of Dissonance (Mexico city, 1515-2015)]
Tiempo Universal Coordinado (Empty Quarters, UAE)

[Coordinated Universal Time (Empty Quarters, UAE)]