Joao Maria Gusmao - Massa Confusa

The objects of Massa Confusa's attention are Gusmao's personal inventory of traditional Japanese-inspired Chawan tea bowls by the ceramicist Victor Harris. For over half a millennium, such vessels have been integral to the Japanese tea ceremony, serving both as a tool for serving aromatic beverages, and as a metonym for the ritual's moral geometry as a meditative worship of the imperfect. With over 70 distinct permutations of the publication, each copy of Massa Confusa is unique. In the spirit of reckless invention, the artist has devised a semi-random system of signatures, where queer queries were folded in both directions, assembled in stochastic combinations, and outfitted with a multitude of variable covers featuring intimate details of the included illustrations. The book is published in collaboration with Pato Em Pequim (Lisboa), a platform for research, creation and production in contemporary art.