The Luck Archive : Exploring Belief, Superstition, and Tradition
ISBN: 9781595342508
Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Trinity University Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time
Subjects: Philosophy; Fine Arts;

Artist Menjivar's photography book showcases his project entitled the Luck Archive, an itemized exploration of people's associations with luck. Some entries, like double rainbows and horseshoes, are expected, while others, such as sayings like "don't walk under ladders" and "don't cut your nails on a Sunday" veer into the realm of superstition. The quirky habits of regular lottery players and athletes are charming, while a motivational speaker's habit of giving away "lucky" pairs of underwear may cause some concern. Some entries are accompanied by backstories, but most are not, leaving their significance up to the reader to determine. Instead of using these objects or their frequent association with luck as an entry point to examine luck and what it means, Menjivar simply moves from example to example. What could have been an insightful and inspiring examination of luck and all its meanings is reduced to little more than a handful of images. Illus. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Mark Menjivar is an artist whose work explores diverse subjects through photography, stories, and found objects while emphasizing dialogue and collaboration. His work has been shown at venues across the country, including the Houston Center for Photography, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Wignall Museum of Art, the University of Wisconsin-#65533;Milwaukee, Baylor University, the Southwest School of Art, and Central Michigan University. In addition, his work has been featured by TED, NPR, New York Times , New Yorker , Village Voice , Gastronomica , Orion Magazine , and GUP Magazine . In 2009 his series You Are What You Eat won Director's Choice from CENTER and was a Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50 project. In 2011 Menjivar received an artist grant from the Brackenridge Foundation. He lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Harrell Fletcher has produced a variety of socially engaged collaborative and interdisciplinary projects since the early 1990s. His work has been shown at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the de Young Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum, ArtPace, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Drawing Center, Socrates Sculpture Park, the Seattle Art Museum, Domain de Kerguehennec, and the Royal College of Art, among others. He was also a participant in the 2004 Whitney Biennial. From 2002 to 2009 Fletcher coproduced Learning To Love You More, a participatory website, with Miranda July. He is an associate professor of art and social practice at Portland State University in Oregon.

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