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Instan (Book) Instan (2002) contains picture and letter poetry illustrated by Cecilia Vicuña. There are five main components to this page-less book: gamma kellcani (the drawings), el poema cognado/the poem, fábulas del comienzo y restos del origen fables of the beginning and remains of the origin, carta or end note, and dixio nary a diction.

1.	gamma kellcani (the drawings)- is a series of drawings with the constant theme of thread to tie words between Spanish and English together. The author designs various shapes and patterns to create zig-zags and squiggles between letters of the two alphabets.

2.	el poema cognado/the poem- is at first glance just a list of words. Each page contains one column of words, filled with word-play of English, Spanish, and a culmination of the two languages.

3.	fábulas del comienzo y restos del origen /fables of the beginning and remains of the origin- is another visual representation of the first part. However, there are no drawings in this section, just all of the words transposed from the first section.

4.	carta or end note- explains the inspiration for Vicuña’s work. “Instan, el libro de la palabra estrella, is the journey inside the word instan”.

5.	dixio nary a diction- contains all of the non-English words within this book. These words are either in Spanish, Quechua, or made up by Vicuña

Dedication The author finishes the book with a dedication: “This book is for my mother, sweet milk, Norma Ramírez, Estrella de sur, Chakana. For my father Jorge Vicuña, the yes that see, Alpha Beta Centauri, Llamcñawin. Both aspects of la Pachamama. For César Paternosto, mi bien estar. For Rosa Alcalá, translator of more than milk. And the poets at Kelsey St. Press, who asked for it. To all of them my gratitude.

Language Cecila Vicuña uses both Spanish and English in her poetry. Parallels can be drawn between certain words within the two languages, ultimately lessening the barrier between the two tongues. In addition, she briefly uses Quechua, a language spoken primarily by indigenous people in the Andes of South America.

Author As of 1980, Vicuña lives in both Chile and New York. She is an artist, writer, and political activist.

In 1966, she began to create precarious, a construction piece made of feathers, sticks, and stones, to symbolize the connection between the Andean people and earth. In 1998, she started Cloud-net, a piece made of wool and other natural fibers to express a memento to societies who rely on wool. Her work has been on display at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Santiago, The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and The Whitecahel Art Gallery in London, and at The Whitney Museum of American Art and MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, and at other galleries.

Vicuña is the author of 16 books

She is also the founder of Artists for Democracy

References

http://www.ceciliavicuna.org/en_about.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quechua_languages http://lib.stanford.edu/women-art-revolution/bio-cecilia-vicuna Vicuña, Cecilia. Instan. Kelsey St. Press, 2002.