Steal This Book

Eleven projects by Dora García documented from letters, e-mails and other elements from the artist’s private correspondence with various interpreters of her performances, direct collaborators or simple spectators.

The book, edited and prefaced by François Piron, does not seek to give a definitive account of the pieces on which it is based; like Abbie Hoffmann’s famous pamphlet, from which it takes its title and format, it calls for a free, active, contradictory reception of an open archive. Part epistolary novel, part draft script, part instruction manual, Steal This Book replaces the critic’s and artist’s words with a set of discussions, unanswered questions, and endless arguments.

Steal This Book has also been presented in exhibitions as a sculpture that can be truly plundered.