A small group of local artists working under the name Too Many Words created a sculpture out of old books in a local park recently. We didn't see the artists creating it, which they did during our busy local farmers market as a performance art piece in strange anonymous green suits, though we were happy the sculpture was left in the park for a week or so so we had a chance to explore it.
Approaching the sculpture
All of the books used were deemed unsaleable or unwanted and collected from the local library and an op shop. It's interesting, as I'm sure one persons opinion of unsaleable might differ from the next persons.
The sculpture was intended to make us think about consumerism, and what happens to our stuff when it's no longer wanted.
I couldn't help thinking that each and every book used here was written by someone and at one stage that project (writing a book) would have consumed a lot of their time and creative energy and been something of great importance to them. So really, so much time and history within each building block (book) of the sculpture.
The page corners gently flapped in the breeze as we wondered around it.
The inside floor of the sculpture was covered in maps.
The girls thought it was a wonderful cubby house and place to play! They were very interested in it and explored the space looking thoroughly at all the details, and reading some of the words.
So many words by Too Many Words...
I love the fact that their are local artists out there creating thought provoking art to enrich our experience and local town. It satisfies me to show this type of thing to my kids and then listen to the thoughts that evolve from that and discuss what we think it means.
You can read more about the idea behind the sculpture & the art performance here and see the artists in their strange green suits.
You can catch the art collective Too Many Words on Facebook too.
Jules :)
It looks pretty cool but I always get uneasy about reusing books for arts and crafts too. I can't imagine what makes a book unreadable to someone unless it is physically damaged or our language has changed significantly.
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