The English-born artist Melanie Smith has been involved in the Mexican art scene since the late 1980s, and Spiral City & Other Vicarious Pleasures is her first significant monograph–published in conjunction with the artist’s 2006 retrospective exhibition at Mexico City’s University Museum of Sciences and Arts, commonly known as MUCA. This volume also serves as an introduction to the various media that Smith has been exploring since her arrival in Mexico two decades ago. It includes video, photography, installation and painting. Spiral City is a supersaturated project that provides the reader with visual and written information without ever falling into the predictable patterns of a traditional retrospective catalogue. With texts by Dawn Ades, Cuauhtemoc Medina and Eduardo Abaroa, and a written conversation between David Batchelor and the artist.