Exhibition catalog of The School of Nature and Principle, an exhibition curated by Emiliano Valdés, which was on view at the EFA Project Space Gallery from April 10 - May 30, 2015.

Artists: Javier Barrios, Tyler Coburn, Regina Jose Galindo, Rodrigo Hernández, Federico Herrero, Akira Ikezoe, Chosil Kil, Catalina León, Gabriel Lester, Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, and Yu-Hsien Su

The School of Nature and Principle was an ensemble of works speculating on the relationship between metaphysics and various aspects of contemporary society. The exhibition also addresses, partly through the way it was conceived, the gradual evolution (or deterioration) of highly organized thought systems from their initial implementation to their eventual adaptation to society and actual human behavior. Taking Neo-Confucianism as his departure point (specifically the branch known as the School of Nature and Principle, which proposes a way of relating to and behaving in the world), curator Emiliano Valdés had assembled an international group of artists whose work explores the validity of non-rational knowledge, our relation to the natural world and technology, and simply what it means to be alive today.