︎ The Rest is History (2020-2022)
The Rest is History
by Alejandro Acín
124pp, 138 x 200mm
Offset printing
65 B&W plates
Arena Ivory 120 gr
Flush 3mm Board Binding with black silk screened spine cloth
Photographs and Design: Alejandro Acín
Text: Isaac Blease
Editing: Alejandro Acín, Isaac Blease and Julián Barón
ISBN 979-8-88757-264-2
Published by ICVLStudio and supported by
Sala Kursala Programa Cultural, University of Cádiz, Cajasol.
Book (Pre-Order discount until October 2022)
ADD TO CART £25 + P&P
Book + 200 x140mm photo-etching on a
540 x 420mm Hahnemühle Museum Paper (Edition of 10 + 2AP)
ADD TO CART £195 + P&P
* If you can collect from Bristol, the P&P costs will be refunded.
** If you are ordering from Spain, I will refund 50% of P&P costs.
EXHIBITION
Sala Kursala, Cádiz (Spain) 2022
28 September to 11 November 2022
January 31st 2020 marked the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. In practical terms it meant the beginning of a ‘transition period’ until a longer-term relationship could be agreed. However, symbolically it was already known as Brexit Day.
The Rest is History was originally born as a response to the national and international media coverage of this ‘historical’ event. A kind of celebration for the Leavers and an irreversible catastrophe for the Remainers. In this publication, Alejandro Acín questions the construction of history with a series of photographs taken during the last twenty-four hours of the political relationship between Britain and Europe in London. Acín’s visual strategy seeks to merge key British historical spaces (Parliament Square and the British Museum) into one, creating a time-based historical cacophony - a theatrical representation of a battle between the past and present - to petrify a dialogue of gestures, expressions and actors navigating towards an uncertain future. Within the parameters of the ‘historical event’ Acín took these images indiscriminately; seemingly, everything became relevant with the political event occurring just out-of-frame.
The Rest is History was originally born as a response to the national and international media coverage of this ‘historical’ event. A kind of celebration for the Leavers and an irreversible catastrophe for the Remainers. In this publication, Alejandro Acín questions the construction of history with a series of photographs taken during the last twenty-four hours of the political relationship between Britain and Europe in London. Acín’s visual strategy seeks to merge key British historical spaces (Parliament Square and the British Museum) into one, creating a time-based historical cacophony - a theatrical representation of a battle between the past and present - to petrify a dialogue of gestures, expressions and actors navigating towards an uncertain future. Within the parameters of the ‘historical event’ Acín took these images indiscriminately; seemingly, everything became relevant with the political event occurring just out-of-frame.
EXHIBITION
Sala Kursala, Cádiz (Spain) 2022
28 September to 11 November 2022
The final display is articulated around 40 photo-etchings printed on a 420x297mm Hannehmühle Museum Etching and float-mounted naked on the wall alongside other digital works and a multimedia piece.
The exhibition opens on the 28th of September until the 11th of November 2022 and will also be accompanied by a book published by ICVLStudio and supported by Sala Kursala Programa Cultural, University of Cádiz, Cajasol.
Featured in HAHNMUEHLE
Featured in EL PAIS
Featured in CLAVOARDIENDO
Sala Kursala, Cádiz (Spain) 2022
28 September to 11 November 2022
The final display is articulated around 40 photo-etchings printed on a 420x297mm Hannehmühle Museum Etching and float-mounted naked on the wall alongside other digital works and a multimedia piece.
The exhibition opens on the 28th of September until the 11th of November 2022 and will also be accompanied by a book published by ICVLStudio and supported by Sala Kursala Programa Cultural, University of Cádiz, Cajasol.
Featured in HAHNMUEHLE
Featured in EL PAIS
Featured in CLAVOARDIENDO
︎ The Rest is History
(2020-2021)
The Rest is History is a photographic work entirely produced on the 31st of January 2020 in London, the day the UK left Europe. This visual exercise aims to question the historical relevance of this event, encouraged by the noise of various media outlets and political parties that supported the LEAVE campaign. By juxtaposing the celebratory events happening in Parlament Square with images taken in the European section at the British Museum, my intention was to create a time-based historical cacophony, a theatrical representation of a battle between a past and present to petrify a dialogue of gestures, expressions and actors navigating towards an uncertain future.
Professor Stefan Vogenauer, Director at the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History says that “the belief in the blessings of Brexit has been compared to a religion or ideology. This is not entirely wrong. But an ideology can only exist on the basis of a particular world view.
Therefore, constructions of identity are also relevant when they are incorrect. Historical narratives can develop a life of their own. This is also important for the frequently asked question about the relevance of history for the future. Today there is a broad consensus that no instructions for future action can be derived from history. But we access the present through our understanding of what has happened so far, saturated by historical experience. The discourse surrounding Brexit shows that, when looking to the future, it is difficult to free ourselves from the ghosts of the past.“
This work will be published as a book publication in 2022 (Date TBC) accompanying an exhibition of the work. If you would like to be informed about this publication, please send me an email to info@alejandroacin.com.
This work will be published as a book publication in 2022 (Date TBC) accompanying an exhibition of the work. If you would like to be informed about this publication, please send me an email to info@alejandroacin.com.