Qué tal
A “categorical change” was originally something we used to describe shifts in variables to auditory stimuli. Today, though, we consider categorical changes as those which encompass any change that presents an unforeseen aberration in a relationship or tradition that was previously considered to be completely understood. Federico Garcia Lorca, the luminous Andalusian poet who was murdered by Fascist forces on August 18th, 1936, was betrayed by the very country that he loved; his lyrics drew out the ethereal beauty of the Grenadian countryside, and devoted its space on the page to his devotion to Spanish culture. Lorca stayed in Spain when the rest of his circle left for Paris. He believed in what Spain had to offer as a country rich in art and in life.
These shifts in our perception are hard to undo—our resentment for this retrospectively-parasitic-former-partner become defining for us. In our culture right now, we are being flooded with aberrations from the “status quo.” Our comfort is uncomfortable, and our realities, surreal. We are learning from each other, and opening our ears and our minds like, perhaps, never before. And what better way to do this—to hear one another—than to throw ourselves at each other’s art? To be forced into the visceral soul of the writer, the painter, the sculptor, and come out categorically altered for the better? Or, perhaps, questioning our categorical convictions, as they were. Because art has always been disruptive, and has been a call to attention and action. And so we’re enormously delighted to share these stories, these poems, this art—these beating hearts—in the hope that yours may be in simultaneity and solidarity with them.
In solidarity /
En solidaridad,
Jacob Rivers and Cole Phillips
Editors
Malasaña | Hudson, NY| Cargo Collective | Portland, ME | 2021