Globalocational Art

Introduction

By George Rivera

This is not a book, as most readers commonly understand a "book" to be. It is a book about art. However, it is neither a "coffee table book" nor a book of readings. This book is different in that it is written in fragments that are not necessarily serially connected. As a consequence, some repetition can be found among the fragments. All the fragments relate to the theme of the book, but they do not necessarily follow each other based on what came before or what came after reading any specific fragment. Dr. George Rivera wrote most of the fragments, and Dr. Beth Krensky wrote others.

Fragments by either author are indicated with a byline accompanying the fragment. After all fragments for the book were written (each independent of the other), they were organized into related sections. However, together they form a "gestalt" informing the subject of the book. Fragments also contain sub-fragments. These can be considered "asides" that delve into related material to each fragment, but steer away from the main discussion in the fragment. These sub-fragments are personal experiences that were conjured up by the main fragment.

As such, fragments are presented in regular font, but sub-fragments are indicated by a smaller font and in bold letters.

This book is about art experiences in Palestine. It is primarily about the Artnauts (an art collective from the United States) that had a series of exhibitions in Palestine dating back to 2004. To accurately portray the "Artnauts in Palestine" requires the reader to be taken into the totality of experience because only the "gestalt" informs the reader of an American experience in Palestine within the context of art. Thus, this account of an art journey is not complete without referencing related experiences of the curator (Dr. George Rivera) that occurred outside of the exhibition per se.