every reader does with the book what s::he wants to :: 2025
Down in the weeds, where the world once was* :: 2025
Last fall I got attracted by a nearby public bookcase**, a place i had passed by for years without even noticing. I started going there almost every day, skipping through books from 19th century to the 2020s. The most incredible books could be found there, in almost ALL languages from german to english to chinese and modern greek. I started doing research work and googled lots of biographies, i needed to reflect context and background. Often I took some books home and brought them back the very next day. It has become (almost) impossible for me to read most of the 20th century „classics“, many of them self-pitying men in male-only worlds (seen from a today´s perspective). Lucky me i had skipped them all at high-school, nevertheless it´s an interesting historical study (things weren´t better or more interesting „then“). I liked the kamasutra which was definitely worth re-reading, and found some interesting recent university books in modern greek language. Sometimes books had some text or name written into them, dating from the 1920s until now. That was even more interesting - real people were reading exactly this book long ago, and they - or someone they know or knew - had brought it here. A bookcase is much more than a case with books. It´s a case with books that have a history. Endless stories can be found there, but it´s an old world. A world that has had its glory, its freedom, its pleasure. You can go there and loose yourself in old times (the old greeks were definitely progressive, but most of the old is just history by now) and you´ll always meet funny people there (skipping through past worlds too, but sometimes also re-defining what a book actually is ). After 9 months my project ended the way it had started - over night.
A book can be a lot of things. To me, old books are like fallen trees. Yes, i know, they are good for new growth (see: treeworks 2020, a previous unplanned artwork).
**the first in town, built and maintained by artists ::
books here: danish philosopher kierkegaard in italian language, the beach/ garland 90s; emily henry 2020 and miss smilla/ 90s; one flew over the cuckoos nest, USA 1970s, with a name and a date written into it (dec 1977):: books :: 2025 ::
* album by the bright eyes, 2020
