Have Printed Books Been Relegated to Ancient History?
It was a relatively overcast day, with temperatures above average in the city hosting the 2012 Olympics. People paraded in greens, blues, yellows and reds, waving country flags indicating the patriotism that is especially poignant during any Olympics games. Dressed in the colours Green, Gold, and Black, I paraded along the Southbank enjoying the smells from hot dog stands and picnic areas donned with Mojitos. A guide suggested a visit to the Southbank Centre.
On entering people buzzed with excitement seemingly in 'culture paradise' with the 10s of choices for artistic stimulation. I turned a corner and in the midst of the revere there they were, these books!
A group of visitors approached the display, made funny faces, and walked with flashing hands, signalling their boredom with the concept. I decided however, that this pile of books, 250,000 to be exact, designed in the form of a labyrinth by Brazillian artists Gualter Pupo and Marcos Saboya was actually quite intriguing. I journeyed in.
The Labyrinth of books was a part
of the exhibition titled aMAZEme. The
design was made to be interactive, allowing anyone to borrow books from the
structure and return them when finished. The books new and used were randomly
stacked, and this allowed coincidence in material choice. This arrangement presented a
stark contrast to the organisation characteristic of a traditional library
space and was more in keeping with how we now access information in many of our
online social spaces.
Books in printed form, are in
many ways a dying phenomenon with the emergence of online publications and
tools such as the Kindle which allow you to access your library once you are
connected to the internet, anytime anyplace. In many ways books are making the
transition from everyday use to studies of history and material for museums. Is
this the future? I wondered.
People were mulling around,
lounging, flipping through pages and I wondered if the artist had considered
encouraging his visitors to add books from their own libraries to this
collection.
aMAZEme will be on display
until August 25th at The Southbank Centre in London, England as a part of the
many artworks and installations at this year’s London Olympics.
This is a significant piece of art which is set up as a maze or labyrinth which signifies the craving we as humans have for knowledge and will use whatever means necessary to acquire said information.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of another manmade book structure I've seen
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flavorwire.com/319252/venture-inside-of-quebecs-garden-of-decaying-books
Very Interesting Kimarley! Extends our appreciation of what we can do with our used books...Thanks for sharing!
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