Bookless Library
Bookless Library
In 2000
when I first started art school in Glasgow I tried to empty the
student library in order to create a new social space, at the time
I was on the fine art Printmaking course and the tutors really
didn't like the project.
They felt it was antisocial.
It wasn't long before I failed the year and changed coarse.
The project never went further than a large poster for the public with instructions and a suggested strategy on how to empty the library by taking out as many books as they were each entitled to, reclaiming the space, using for something new, then returning the books after a week or so.
six years later.....
In 2006 I went to Melbourne to work on a Cabin Exchange project- Tug of Cabin as part of the Next wave festival.
One day myself and Nick Carlin visited a gallery, we slumped down in a sofa in the space as we had been cycling around and it's not so often you find a comfortable sofa in a gallery.
The Sofa was part of a project called Ideas Catalogue by Gabrielle De Vietri.
The Ideas Catalogue is an annual publication that draws together ideas for projects, artworks, events, interventions and exhibitions.
The concept is that you can sell your ideas to other people to use and appropriate as they so wish.
So I decided to fill in a form (with spelling and punctuation advice from Nick) and offer up my 'Bookless Library' idea if I hadn't used it by now then I probably never was, so I thought some one else might want to do something with it.
Several months after I was contacted by Gabrielle to tell me that the idea had been bought by two curators from Milan who would use it in there gallery in someway. What makes me laugh (and cry) is that one of my initial responses was that I might receive lots of money for the idea. I was informed that when I filled in the form I stated that the idea was for sale for $1 and I had further more stipulated it could be sold as many times as there are libraries in the world.
The best idea or the cheapest idea?
Here is an interview with Gabrielle De Vietri about the project where she talks a bout the bookless library idea:
http://lucazoid.com/media/audio/gab_d_vietri_edit_01.mp3
And here is Not Quite Art a TV program the idea also appeared in:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/notquiteart/
Not Quite Art was broadcast on Australia's ABC channel the program was conceived and presented by Marcus Westbury (the former director of Next Wave Festival) and it is available for download here
Episode 1 looks at the Glasgow Art Scene, and Episode 3 has a section about the Ideas Catalogue and the bookless library idea.
They felt it was antisocial.
It wasn't long before I failed the year and changed coarse.
The project never went further than a large poster for the public with instructions and a suggested strategy on how to empty the library by taking out as many books as they were each entitled to, reclaiming the space, using for something new, then returning the books after a week or so.
six years later.....
In 2006 I went to Melbourne to work on a Cabin Exchange project- Tug of Cabin as part of the Next wave festival.
One day myself and Nick Carlin visited a gallery, we slumped down in a sofa in the space as we had been cycling around and it's not so often you find a comfortable sofa in a gallery.
The Sofa was part of a project called Ideas Catalogue by Gabrielle De Vietri.
The Ideas Catalogue is an annual publication that draws together ideas for projects, artworks, events, interventions and exhibitions.
The concept is that you can sell your ideas to other people to use and appropriate as they so wish.
So I decided to fill in a form (with spelling and punctuation advice from Nick) and offer up my 'Bookless Library' idea if I hadn't used it by now then I probably never was, so I thought some one else might want to do something with it.
Several months after I was contacted by Gabrielle to tell me that the idea had been bought by two curators from Milan who would use it in there gallery in someway. What makes me laugh (and cry) is that one of my initial responses was that I might receive lots of money for the idea. I was informed that when I filled in the form I stated that the idea was for sale for $1 and I had further more stipulated it could be sold as many times as there are libraries in the world.
The best idea or the cheapest idea?
Here is an interview with Gabrielle De Vietri about the project where she talks a bout the bookless library idea:
http://lucazoid.com/media/audio/gab_d_vietri_edit_01.mp3
And here is Not Quite Art a TV program the idea also appeared in:
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/notquiteart/
Not Quite Art was broadcast on Australia's ABC channel the program was conceived and presented by Marcus Westbury (the former director of Next Wave Festival) and it is available for download here
Episode 1 looks at the Glasgow Art Scene, and Episode 3 has a section about the Ideas Catalogue and the bookless library idea.