When we, the collaborative student team, were presented with the opportunity to create a site-responsive installation for the library, most of the initial ideas we discussed were concerned with space and place. We knew that we needed to work with strong materials that had the potential of being used to create a large-scale construction. The most logical and intuitive item for a library piece is, of course, the book. Books are durable, textural, colorful, and informative. We were inspired to create a responsive work in which textures and surfaces of the books stimulate the senses, as textual information stimulates the mind.
During the search for materials, we chose used books that contained outdated information, were of poor quality, and those that were not intended for further use. Within this construction, the books’ importance has been restored; their function revealed and revitalized. We considered the books as found objects: objects of real space with unique layouts, surfaces, and even smells.
As we worked more with the books, they became less like items and obtained a “thing-ness.” That “thing-ness,” the books’ ability to transform and arouse a new meaning in the viewer, became extremely important in identifying a solid meaning for the piece. We chose to highlight meaning as we found it by incorporating copper wire and red thread throughout the books to add emphasis to important information presented in the books, weaving and intertwining the pages like a quilt.