|
How can you tell which books are best for summer? Name the fiction book that has never once been checked out of The Seattle Public Library. What question do people ask librarians every fall? These questions and more will be answered next month at the Temporary Central Library, 800 Pike St., in a series of free, humorous talks developed by performance artist Stokley Towles. The talks will be held from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday from Aug. 5-16 in the first-floor Express Internet area, where related images, artifacts and specimens that Towles collected also will be on display. For more information, call 206-733-9663. |
 |
Like a peephole in a construction fence, the library-related temporary public art projects are intended to provide the public with insights into the development of the new Central Library and to promote discussion about the place a 21st century library holds in a democratic society. The artwork leads up to the completion of the new library in spring 2004.
The new 362,987-square-foot Central Library was designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in a joint venture with Seattle-based LMN Architects. The building is currently under construction at 1000 Fourth Ave.
Capitol Hill resident Towles spent weeks prowling the library interviewing staff members to create the talks and related exhibits. He said he was fascinated by the idea that books and libraries tell stories that aren’t always obvious.
“The library is a brain,” Towles said. “It’s a static representation of how we think. And the questions that come into the library’s Quick Information Center are clues to how the city thinks. It’s a window into the questions that we all want answered.”
Towles incorporates oral history and local anecdotes into his site-specific performances. His “an Archaeology of manhood: a dig into the male mind,” performed in a trailer at the University of Washington campus, included performance-lectures and a “dig” for early manhood. Over the past 10 years, his press, Cling Peaches Publications, has produced more than a dozen titles. Towles teaches at Colorado College, Antioch University, and Seattle Arts and Lectures’ Writers in the Schools Program.
Towles’ performance piece is the fourth artwork in The Peephole Series.
The first piece – Decimal•Points by Helen Lessick – was unveiled in March. Based on the basic premise of Dewey’s classification system, Decimal•Points features 10 original works of research and visual art. Staff members at the first-floor checkout desk at the Temporary Central Library will distribute the bookmarks the first week of every month through 2003.
The second artwork – The Peephole Theatres by Edie Whitsett – was installed in mid-May on the Fourth Avenue side of the construction site of the new Central Library. The four toy theatres, which are modeled on historic toy theatres from the 19th century, illustrate books in The Seattle Public Library collection. The theatres will be on display through the summer.
The third piece – a sound installation created by sound artist Franklin Joyce in collaboration with computer-based musician Andy Rohrmann – turned a stairwell at the Temporary Central Library into a passageway of animated sounds, dialogue and interviews, during its installation from May 15 through July 3.
Other artists who are part of The Peephole Series:
Larry Stein, a Queen Anne audio producer, reporter and documentarian, will create a half-hour radio documentary that will feature library activities such as book discussions, story times and Talk Time. Projected completion: August.
Jim Woodring, a University District cartoonist, will develop three, short animated cartoons in which his best known character, Frank, explores books selected from the library’s collection. Projected completion: August.
The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, the city agency that promotes the value of arts and culture in and of communities throughout Seattle, manages the Library’s public art program. Arts & Cultural Affairs is supported by the 15-member Seattle Arts Commission, citizen volunteers appointed by the mayor and City Council.
Voters approved the new Central Library in 1998 as part of the $196.4 million “Libraries for All” bond measure. The bond money, which can be used only for construction of libraries, will fund improvements to all 22 branches, build five new branches and build the new Central Library.
For more information about “Libraries for All,” visit the Library’s Web site at www.spl.org.
(For more information, call Caroline Young Ullmann, Library communications assistant, at 206-615-1627, or Karen L. Bystrom, communications director, Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, at 206-684-7306.)
Return to the list of Libraries for All press release headlines
Content modified: 17 July 2003
12/30/2005
© 1999-2006 - The Seattle Public Library