Función de repulsa
Luis Panini

Función de repulsa by Luis Panini is like entering a museum of modern art, where the work in the form of installations, paintings, sculptures, etc. is presented for a pure conceptual effect. In this museum of vignettes, the artist intentionally wants to induce revulsion. The same way that the artist Piero Manzoni (whose work appears in the book) canned his own feces to exhibit them later in a gallery, with intentions to criticize the art market.  
 
In these artistic works, Panini finds the means to expose the cynicism in society and the disgust they produce. This intention is found in some other contemporary writers, who just like Panini’s work, find in the estrangement of the world a means for creating literature; by exposing the awkwardness of reality. Luis Panini puts together happenings, from a catalog of the vile human nature, its close resemblance to the bestial and primal instincts, as well as a masterful compilation of accidents.

It seems important for the author to observe that moment when something terrible happens, as if only then we could make sense of everything else. At the end, we come out of the museum experiencing an unsettling sensation, as if we had not only witnessed somebody else’s brutality, but our own. 

Luis Panini (Monterrey, Mexico, 1978) is a writer and architect.  His first book obtained the Nuevo Leon literature prize in 2008.  In 2014 he was chosen by La Tempestad magazine as the emerging writer of the year.

Función de repulsa is a publication by Publicaciones Malaletra Internacional and can be purchased through Amazon. Click here to purchase. 
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Reviewed by
Jorge Saenz
3/17/2017

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