Sorted Books: Special Collections Revisited
What Is Art?, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
"Sorted Books" is my longest ongoing project. It began in 1993 and has taken place on many different sites over the years, including in the private homes of friends, in rare book libraries, and in the archives of important literary figures. The process is the same in every case: I sort through a collection of books, make note of particular titles, and eventually group the books into clusters so that the titles can be read in sequence. The final results are most often shown as photographs of the book clusters, but on occasion, I exhibit the grouped books themselves. Taken as a whole, the clusters are a cross-section of that library's holdings that function as a kind of portrait.
Special Collections Revisited was originally done in 1996 at the Athenaeum Arts and Music Library in La Jolla, California, and augmented when I had a chance to visit the library again in 2008. The library is housed in a beautiful Mission-style building in an upscale shopping district. While I was working there, I met many charming retirees who frequented the library, some coming to browse and others working as volunteers. The atmosphere of the library was quiet, romantic, and contemplative, and the library's collection focused largely on famous artists and musicians immortalized as classics of the western cultural past. There was also an unusually large children's book section. I had a small exhibition at the end of my stay in 2008; when the book clusters were complete, they were exhibited on shelves (with the books stacked horizontally, since I realized they were easier to read that way) and shown as well on several see-saws, with one cluster of books counterbalancing another. If a curious viewer picked up a book from one end of the see-saw, forgetting momentarily the physics of the situation, catapulting books were the dramatic consequence.
David, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
I am a Conductor, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Leonardo da Vinci as a Musician, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Picasso at 90, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Nude, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Why Spiders Spin, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Listening to Music Creatively, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Speaking of Pianists..., from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Castrati In Opera, from the series Special Collections Revisited, 1996/2008, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.