Vivian Abenshushan
Vivian Abenshushan | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 23, 1972 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, editor |
| Known for | Interdisciplinary literature merging literature with emerging technologies and experimental methods; founder of Tumbona Ediciones |
Vivian Abenshushan, born on June 23, 1972, in Mexico City, is a Mexican writer and editor whose interdisciplinary approach merges literature with emerging technologies and experimental methods. Her contributions have earned her distinguished literary accolades. Throughout her career, Abenshushan has critically engaged with the relentless pace imposed by capitalist labor systems, openly addressing themes of fatigue and examining how "turbo-capitalism" shapes intellectual and artistic production.
Biography
Abenshushan pursued Hispanic Language and Literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. By the age of 33, she had distanced herself from academic circles and conventional employment to establish the independent publishing house Tumbona Ediciones, inspired by Lafarguiano’s principle advocating "the universal right to laziness." She has written for various publications such as La Tempestad, Etiqueta Negra, Letras Libres, and Tierra Adentro. Her withdrawal from traditional career paths signifies a deliberate critique of writing as a form of resistance against productivity-centered capitalist frameworks.
Identified with the literary Nonexistent Generation, her oeuvre is characterized as exo-canonical, experimental, marginal, and oppositional to mainstream systems.
As a cultural facilitator, she initiated the traveling project Laboratorio de Escritura Expandida in 2001, which investigates the convergence of writing with other artistic disciplines like sound poetry and visual arts experimentation. This workshop has been hosted by prominent cultural institutions both within Mexico and internationally, underscoring her role in connecting literature, art, and social activism.
Her 2004 book El clan de los insomnes (Tusques Editores) was awarded the 2002 Gilberto Owen National Literature Prize. Additional significant titles include Una habitación desordenada (2007) and Julio Ramón Ribeyro (2009). Through the initiative Escritos para desocupados, she offers a critical examination of modern labor conditions via a hybridized text that fuses elements of manifesto, essay, diary, and critical theory. Released under a copyleft license by Surplus Ediciones, this work incorporates hyperlinks directing readers to audiovisual materials derived from her investigations.
In 2005, together with Luigi Amara, she co-established Tumbona Ediciones, an independent cooperative press dedicated to exploring intersections between literature, art, and political discourse.
Her 2019 avant-garde project Permanente obra negra (Sexto Piso) utilizes techniques such as skyping, rewriting, transcription, and citation within a "novel-essay" framework distributed across diverse media formats including print editions, digital files, die-cut plates, and an online algorithm.
Abenshushan’s methodologies challenge prevailing capitalist cultural production models. Her essays delve into the interplay between artistic expression and political engagement as well as social fields like feminism and collaborative writing education, advocating for writing as an expanded creative domain.
She has conducted research on avant-garde movements including Fluxus, which served as an inspiration for the multidisciplinary Laboratorio de Escritura Expandida. This workshop experiments with performative writing styles such as sound poetry and visual poetry. It has been presented at esteemed venues like Museo Universitario de Arte Contemporáneo, Museo Jumex, Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Instituto Cervantes in Paris, among others.
Her writings have been included in both national and international anthologies such as Best of Contemporary Mexican Fiction (Dalkey Archive, 2008), Voix du Mexique (2009), and El futuro no es nuestro—narradores de América Latina nacidos entre 1970 y 1980.
Scholarly perspectives and analysis
Researchers such as Vicente Luis Mora interpret Permanente obra negra as a text that utilizes fragmented storytelling, diverse modes of understanding, and network-like structures to introduce an innovative narrative poetics for the 21st century. The work consciously acknowledges its own incompleteness, highlighting the interplay between what is present and what remains absent.
Abenshushan’s contributions engage with discussions surrounding appropriation, citation practices, public domain issues, and open-source concepts. His exploration focuses on the ways texts are borrowed and disseminated, questioning conventional notions of authorship and ownership. The book Permanente obra negra is recognized for exemplifying "apropriación diversa" or "misappropriation," wherein texts are reclaimed by audiences or communities instead of being solely governed by creators or publishers.
Publications
- 2004 - El clan de los insomnes, Tusquets, México, 160 pages.
- 2007 - Una habitación desordenada, El Equilibrista / UNAM, México, 108 pages.
- 2009 - Julio Ramón Ribeyro, Nostra Ediciones, México, 61 pages.
- 2013 - Escritos para desocupados, Surplus Ediciones.
- 2019 - Permanente obra negra, Sexto piso, 464 pages.
- 2024 - Exiliados del tiempo lento, No Libros, Barcelona, 183 pages.
Collaborative projects
- Tsunami. La suma de voces del feminismo, Editorial Sexto Piso, México, 2018.
- Prras! Cartas públicas a mujeres del arte, Tamara Ibarra et al. (compilers), Prass! Ed., México, 2018.
- HUNN. Art / Reflection from Mexico, Editorial RM, México, 2017.
- Fe de erratas / Arte y política, Pierre Valls (compiler), Museo de la Memoria / Centro de Expresiones Contemporáneas, México, 2016.
- Itinerarios de la cultura contemporánea en México, Instituto de Estudios Críticos, México, 2016.
- Sólo cuento, Ignacio Padilla (compiler), UNAM, México, 2014.
- El hacha puesta en la raíz. Ensayistas mexicanos para el siglo XXI, Verónica Murguía and Geney Beltrán Félix (compilers), Conaculta, 2006.
- Función privada: los escritores y sus películas, Cineteca Nacional, México, 2004.
- Crónicas de infancia and Usted está aquí, Jorale / Orfila Valenti, 2007.
- Best of contemporary mexican fiction, Dalkey Archive Press, 2009.
- Revolución 10.10, Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía/Random House Mondadori/Conaculta, 2010.
- Rivera Garza, Cristina. Prologue to Allí te comerán las turicatas, La Caja de Cerillos Ediciones, México, 2013.
- De un nuevo modo. Antología de cuento mexicano actual (UNAM, 2013).
- A papalotear, 20 años del Papalote Museo del niño, Papalote Museo del niño, México, 2013.
- La felicidad y lo absurdo: Albert Camus en el centenario de su nacimiento, Tusquets Editores, México, 2013.
Articles
- "La música de Morton Feldman en México," published in Pauta, México, vol. 23, no. 94, April-June issue, pages 35–41.
Group exhibitions
- Palabras, palabras, palabras, Museo Comunitario Sierra Hermosa, 2019
- Studio Visit, Zona de Desgaste, 2019
- Prras! El sonido del techo de cristal que se rompe, Ladrón Galería, 2018
- Todos los originales serán destruidos, Galería Libertad, 2016
Awards and honors
- 1999, 2001, 2007 – Recipient of the Jóvenes Creadores grant from the National Fund for Culture and the Arts
- 2002 – Gilberto Owen National Literature Award