Carrión, Ulises - Arguments

Ulises Carrión.

"The book Arguments was made with the help of Beau Geste Press. The founders of BGP were  Mexican artists Felipe Ehrenberg and Martha Hellion. They ran a printing community of artists’ publications with their children and like-minded people in the countryside of Devon. Ulises, Felipe and Marta knew each other from a circle of pioneering artists, writers and actors – regular visitors of a cultural center in Mexico City in which Ulises steered the library for some time. While studying in England for his Master’s degree, Carrión contacted the Mexicans after he saw some of their publications. The proposal for Arguments, however, was conceived in Amsterdam. Ehrenberg responded by saying that Ulises had to come over and create the book in collaboration with them. Money was scarce at first, but Felipe's idea of a luxury edition on coloured paper, meant to be a flirtation with collectors, was thought to solve the financial issues. It soon appeared in an edition of 400 (200 in colour and 200 in white) – a great book among Carrión’s impressive list of books, released in 1973. 

Arguments looks like a mix of concrete poetry and a theatre play, minimised to only include the names of the actors. But it can also be viewed as the result of Carrión's thesis – a brilliant analysis of the structure of Shakespeare's historic play. The funny thing is that he turned the notes – an academic obligation for a thesis – into a disagreement with Dr. Uphaus, who makes remarks that any teacher looking for inconsistences would make. Carrión's counter-arguments always win. 

Among the playful, nonsensical lists of mostly English first names, the name Aart appears at the end. Then, unexpectedly, Ulises addresses his readers personally, saying: "My name is Ulises, what 's yours?""