jueves, diciembre 10, 2015

El Menino en USA - Selected by the NY Times and Brainpickings

SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW

ISOL’S ‘THE MENINO,’ AND MORE



A few years after the fact, my youngest daughter asked, “How’d you get milk to come out of your boobs?” My first answer was a stilted, “Uhh.” I was embarrassed to have such a loose grip on my own biology. “I don’t really know.” She proposed a miniature cow inside my rib cage. She waded fearlessly into the unknown. When everything is strange and new, minor mysteries (popcorn, tuning forks) carry the same weight as the nonminor mysteries (biology, birth, death and the sometimes lonely in-between). Three new books rely on the supple child mind to help us see the familiar as something wholly new and surprising. Like the farsighted reader who requires distance to see clearly, these books make room for mystery in order to understand the wondrously complex and totally basic bond between children and their parents.
W.G. Sebald once said, “The astonishing monsters that we know ... leave us with a suspicion that even the most fantastical beasts might not be mere inventions.” The fantastical beasts in “The Menino,” by the Argentine author and illustrator Isol, are newborn humans. In this telling of the strange story of what happens when a child comes into existence, the Menino (Portuguese for “child”) seems to enter our world like an alien on a surprise visit to planet Earth, bringing with it bizarre customs and characteristics. “The Menino arrives naked and yelling, as if to make sure everyone notices.” The Menino has “two little windows up high,” complete with curtains; a pump in his mouth to sip and suck milk “prepared by the woman of the house”; and between the windows and the pump “two little holes that are tunnels. ... The Menino checks them frequently and is personally responsible for keeping them open. That’s because the Menino loves to breathe.” Human biology is made fresh and magnificent again. The shocking perfection of our bodies and our mode of growing these bodies is celebrated. “Everything is useful in the Menino.”
Isol’s jangly, hand-wrought illustrations are expert companions to both the humor and the poetry of her book. Her images are layered and slipped slightly off their undercolor as if a small creature has given them a good shaking. Expected patterns are disrupted, as when a new baby arrives. “The Menino illuminates the middle of the night when he turns himself on. ... The Menino sets his alarms just in case. Night is a thief that steals all the colors.”

Naturally, questions arise. “Where does he come from? Where was he before?” And: “Why does he move as though he were swimming through the air?” Isol answers these questions truthfully, if magically. “The Menino has been on a long voyage and needs to sleep.” A reader might find his or her own questions cropping up. Why do we know so little about what it will be like to parent? Why is the experience of parenting often couched in clichés or made to sound simplistic when it is, by any measure, the most essential and astonishingly bizarre human relationship?




THANK YOU!!!

sábado, octubre 31, 2015

Aterrizó EL MENINO

 Al fin está en todas las librerías mi nuevo libro "El Menino". Publicado por Océano Travesía, con la colaboración de Daniel Goldin en la edición. Gracias a todos los amigos que lo miraron y me ayudaron con sus comentarios mientras lo hacía: Jorge Luján, Lau Varsky, Chris Montenegro, Laura Martiñá, Julia Friese, Mariela Nagle, Gloria Ortiz Noguera y Paloma Valdivia.






Para el el día de la presentación En Buenos Aires, convocamos un concurso de fotos de meninos y con Mariano Irschick cantamos una canción de Luis Alberto Spinetta. Se puede ver el video acá


¡No entierren su pasado menino! :) Es muy buena compañía.

Algunas notas de prensa: 


viernes, agosto 21, 2015

SIMA presenta Nuevo video "Cruzada", dirigido por Johanna Wilhelm y Federico Lamas / SIMA presents New Music VideoClip "Cruzada"


Aquí les presentamos el video que la artista Johanna Wilhelm realizó para la canción que ella ilustró en el disco "Novela Gráfica" . ¡Poesía y cuento en imágenes, música y cine!
Here we present the video that the artist Johanna Wilhelm did for the song "Cruzada", the same one she has illustrated in the Cd "Novela Gráfica" (Graphic Novel)

 Aquí tienen algunas imágenes de cómo se hizo el video, con proyecciones de Johanna y cámara de Fede Lamas. ¡Muy genios!
Here you can see some pictures of the video making off, with Johanna´s projections and Camera by Federico Lamas. So genius!





De atrás, Isol Misenta.
Behind the screen, Isol Misenta

De adelante, una mujercita caballo, elfa embarazada :)
In front, a woman-horse, pregnant elf.

 La eterna lucha entre el Bien y el Mal.
The eternal fight between Good and Bad.



Johanna armando el mundo con su retroproyector y sus figuras recortadas.
Johanna constructing the world with her retroprojector and her cut figures.









Hermoso!! Gracias, queridos Johanna y Federico! Un lujo para SIMA tener su arte para  nuestra canción "Cruzada"!!
Beautiful !! Thank you, dear Johanna and Federico! A treat for SIMA have your art in our song "Crusade"!!

lunes, agosto 17, 2015

"Visión Diurna", algunas fotos /"Daytime Vision", some pictures


Hermosa experiencia hacer la muestra en el Centro Cultural San Martín, en un espacio tan cómodo y mostrando tantas cosas. ¡Mucho público y entusiasmo, quedé muy feliz, cansada y agradecida!!!
It was a wonderful experience to make this exhibition in the San Martín Cultural Center in Buenos Aires. With lots of enthusiastic audience, this left me very happy, exhausted and grateful!




 "Vidente Natural" en nuevo formato para esta expo, el oráculo dibujado sigue sorprendiendo ;)
"Natural Seer" in new format for this expo, the oracle drawn is still surprising;)



Carritos con algunos personajes paseanderos.
Carts with some running characters.


La casita oscura para ver "Nocturno" con linternas.
The dark house to see "Nocturne" with flashlights.




El mural interactivo "EL mar de los deseos", para que cada uno escribiera el suyo.
Interactive mural "The sea of wishes" to write and leave your desire swim.





La estación "Personaje", con figuras imantadas para componer extraños seres.
The station "Character", with figures magnetized to compose strange people.


Hubo tres días de talleres con nenes, en los que miramos la muestra juntos, charlamos y dibujaron nuevos abecedarios personales.
There were three days of workshops for kids, when we watched the exhibition together, talked and drew new personal ABCs.


Arriba en la pared, mi "Abecedario a mano" (saldrá como libro en FCE)
y abajo, el abecedario que armaron los chicos.
Up on the wall, my "Handmade alphabet" (coming as a book published by FCE)
and down you can see the alphabet that kids made.






Estuvo expuesto completo "El Menino", para su lectura en la pared (ya llega, por editorial Océano)
The entire book "The Menino" to be read on the wall (just coming by Editorial Ocean)


Había mesas con materiales para dibujar todo el tiempo (gentileza Pizzini, ¡gracias!)
There were tables with materials to draw all the time (courtesy Pizzini, thanks!)


El cartel para ser la nena de Secreto de familia fue un gran hit.
The poster which converted you in the girl from "Family Secret" was a big hit.



Dibujos en los vidrios, delante la pared de dibujos originales.
Drawings on the glass, in  front of the wall with original drawings.




Espacio de lectura, con todos mis libros a la mano.
Reading space, with all my books at hand.




 


Vitrinas con ediciones de los libros en otros idiomas, para curiosos.
Showcases with books in other languages, for the curious audience.


Griselda sigue haciendo de las suyas.
Griselda still making mischief.


El Menino ya está haciendo muchos amigos :)
Menino is already making many friends :)


En una tv se pudieron ver los cortos animados que hice http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1819194-los-cortos-animados-de-isol
In a TV they could be seen animated shorts I made http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1819194-los-cortos-animados-de-isol


Y el último día, ya casi no había lugar para desear nada más...
¡Emocionante!
The last day, and there was almost no place to wish for anything more ...
Exciting!






Mucha alegría por haber podido hacer esta muestra y recibir tanto a cambio. Gracias!!
Very happy to have been able to do this show and get so much in return. Thank You !!

Algunas notas de prensa / Some press releases
Clarín Cultura
Pagina/12
Télam
La Nación