What determines a criminal? The U.S. functions
on an adversarial system of justice meant to
determine innocence or guilt — yet our system is
fraught with prejudice, racism, and oppression.
For our third issue, Contango presents
contributions that explore where crime falls in
and out of the law.
WritersEssay
Alexandra Drexelius & M.W. CroninJustifying Punishment: Retributivism,
Utilitarianism, and Social Cohesion
Alexandra Drexelius is an archivist and bookshop
assistant at the Graham Foundation for Advanced
Studies in the Fine Arts. She received a B.A. in
Art History from the University of Chicago. Her
research interests include the intersection
between art and politics in the post-war period.
M.W. Cronin is a law student living in Chicago,
Illinois.
Chandler JamesThe Twenty-Fourth March of Donald
John
Chandler James is a PhD student in Political
Science at the University of Chicago. He
researches the presidency, public opinion, and
populism. Prior to graduate school, Chandler
worked as a congressional staffer.
Jameson PaigePermission to Appear: Trans Optics and the
Law in Three Scenes
Jameson Paige is a writer and curator based in
Chicago.
Jacqueline (Jae) KimEmerge: A Solar Lantern Pilot Project With
Homeless Youth in Los Angeles
Jacqueline (aka Jae) Kim is a multi-disciplinary
artist whose projects include narrative film,
environmental installations, and social
practice. Since moving to Los Angeles 25 years
ago, she has taken a specific interest in life
lived in public.
Johnny William LaneUnited States V. Lane No. 09-1057
Johnny William Lane is the oldest of four boys.
He grew up on the southside of Chicago, played
baseball at Fenger High School, and joined the
Marine Corps right after graduating. What he
cares about is his family, community, and the
future of our youth.
Austin WatanabeCulpability and Computer Vision: Machine
Vision as a Regime of Truth Complicit in the
Murder of Stephon Clark
Austin Watanabe is a Master of Architecture
candidate at the University of Minnesota and a
designer at Alchemy Architects. He is co-founder
of Interesting Tactics, a utopic spatial
practice in Minneapolis, MN.
Artists
David Ibata
American painter from the Washington DC
metropolitan area. BFA, Corcoran College of Art
& Design (2008); MFA, New York Academy of
Art (2010). Copyist at the National Gallery of
Art since 2012. website
Tirtza Even
Documentary-maker and video artist. Work shown
at MoMA New York, Whitney Biennial, and
Johannesburg Biennial. Associate Professor at
the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. website
Spencer Elias
Born San Francisco, 1987. MFA, SAIC 2014.
Exhibited at Elmhurst Art Museum and Harvard
Film Archive. 2014 Clare Rosen and Samuel Edes
Foundation Prize for Emerging Artists. Lives and
works in New York, NY.
Information
6.75 × 4.5 inches - 150 pages
- 4-color digital offset, with slipcover - Printed in U.S.A.
ISBN 2578-5230
2SANCTIONS2018
How does an individual or group enforce their
will upon another without the use of violence?
In government these procedures are referred to
as sanctions, often foregoing or preventing
military intervention. These measures rarely
result in the desired change, meaning their
implementation is far less effective than their
proposition. This second issue presents
contributions from writers and artists whose
work undermines dominant power structures
through research, aestheticization, activism,
and self-reflection.
WritersEssay
Brian R. Early & Savanah CourtneyWhat Sanctions Accomplish Even When They
Fail
Brian R. Early is the Director of the Center for
Policy Research and an Associate Professor of
Political Science at the University at Albany,
SUNY, and the founding Director of the Project
on International Security, Commerce, and
Economic Statecraft (PISCES). Savanah Courtney
is earning degrees in Public Policy and
Cybersecurity, Homeland Security, and Emergency
Preparedness at the University at Albany, SUNY.
Maggie SivitOn Big Little Lies and Networks of
Trauma
Maggie Sivit is a Ph.D. candidate in cinema and
media studies at the University of Chicago. Her
areas of interest include network aesthetics,
semiotics, and new media. She is currently
working on a project related to video evidence
in U.S. law courts.
Nick RussellThe Core Hypocrisies of Nuclear
Deterrence
Nick Russell began studying nuclear weapons in
2009 while on assignment for the Fermilab/SLAC
publication Symmetry to document the current
state of Department of Energy National
Laboratories. Nick maintains a small photography
and video production company called Light &
Noise, Inc. with his business partner Charles
Witherspoon.
Artists
Parker Bright
Interdisciplinary artist based in New York City.
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
(2015). Work shown nationally at the Bruce High
Quality Foundation (NYC) and Julius Caesar
(CHI), and internationally at ArtSpace Mexico
(DF) and Ginny Projects (LDN). In 2017 protested
at the Whitney Biennial in conversation with
Hannah Black, addressing institutionalized
insensitivity towards Black bodies in museums.
website
Claire Lachow
Artist, writer, and founding member of the
collective MATERIAL GIRLS. Work shown
internationally at The Museum of Human
Achievement, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, MoCA
Cleveland, and others. Published in Foundations
Magazine and the Atlas Review. BA, Oberlin
College. Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. website
Arnon Rabin
(b.1984) Lives and works in Tel-Aviv. MFA,
School of the Art Institute of Chicago; BFA,
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem.
Solo exhibitions at the Petach Tikva Museum of
Art, Randy Alexander Gallery (Chicago), and Ha's
Kibbutz Gallery (Tel Aviv). Work also presented
at Sotheby's Gallery London, among others. website
Angela Ziqi Zhang
Painter living and working in New York. BA with
Honors in Visual Arts and BA in Economics,
University of Chicago (2016). website
Information
6.75 × 4.5 inches - 126 pages
- 4-color digital offset, with slipcover - Printed in U.S.A.
ISBN 2578-5230
1AUCTORITAS2017
Auctoritas is a form of authority created
primarily through an individual's charisma. In
politics, it is what remains when law is wholly
suspended. If left unchecked, it can become a
self-appointed legitimacy so powerful that
neither reason nor fact can change its
direction. For its first issue, Contango has
sourced works from writers and artists who deal
with social and political power relations.
WritersEssay
Lucien FergusonAuthority's Phantom Pain
PhD candidate in Political Theory at
Northwestern University (Dept. of Political
Science). His interests are predominantly in
Critical Theory and American Pragmatism.
Lawrence RosenthalThe Nationalist Revolution of 2017
Chair and Lead Researcher of the Berkeley Center
for Right-Wing Studies at the University of
California.
Anthony AbbadessaApocatastasis
PhD candidate in Religion and Literature at the
University of Chicago. His research interests
include angelology, shamanism, and the
theological erotic.
Chris CutroneThe Crisis of Neoliberalism and Marxism in
the Age of Trump
Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of the
Art Institute of Chicago and a Lecturer at the
University of Chicago.
6.75 × 4.5 inches - 120 pages
- 4-color toner, with slipcover - Printed in Chicago, IL
ISBN 2578-5230
About
Contango Journal (2017–2020) was an independent journal of art and critical essays founded by
Lucas Briffa and
Chris Cunningham in
2016. Each issue centered on a current social theme and featured contributions from writers, artists,
and interdisciplinary practitioners. Produced in Chicago and distributed nationally, the publication
concluded in 2020 and is now maintained as an active archive; its three issues remain available for
purchase at Buddy.
In commodities trading, contango refers to a condition in which future prices surpass present ones—
allowing profit to emerge from speculation instead of production. Contango Journal adopted the term
as a conceptual framework, interrogating how economic systems manufacture ambiguity, who profits from
opacity, and what disappears when the distance between value and price is framed as an opportunity rather than a crisis.
