The Three Books: Artist's Books based on artifacts from the Special Collections of the Providence Public Library
Monday, June 21 - Monday, July 19, 2010
Opening Reception June 21, 5:30-8:30pm
Artist Talk 6pm, Barnard Room, 3rd floor
Providence Public Library
Special Collections
150 Empire Street
Providence RI 02903
The Three Books exhibition will present three artist's books conceived and made by Agata Michalowska. Each of the books is based on a different artifact from the Special Collections of the Providence Public Library.
The project is composed of The Book of Time, The Book of Senses and The Book of Passing. The first speaks of the passage of time, and is based on Edmond Halley's Astronomical Tables with Precepts from 1752. It touches upon the human need to systematize the world and the invention of the abstract notion of time. The second is a celebration of the sense of touch, its reference being the French embossed book for the blind Notice Historique sur l'Instruction des Jeunes Aveugles (Sébastien Guillié, 1819). The book was created using a Braille writing kit found at the library. The pages are filled with a texture that codes an intimate text. The third is a meditation on mortality inspired by the nineteenth century portraits found in the glass negatives collection. The artist created photographic prints in which the subjects seem to emerge from deep shadow, the depths of time and memory. They are an evidence of a world that no longer exists.
The books were crafted at the AS220 Community Printshop and AS220 Paul Krot Community Darkroom.
Each book is an edition of three. One set of the books will be donated to the Special Collections and available to view by any visitor to the collections.
"Mask 1" by Holly Gaboriault
