Library in Residence

The Library in Residence program at Despacio – curated by Random Institute – is an ever-evolving selection of artworks, artist books, and unique handmade publications that together not only reimagine conventional librarian systems but also examine literature’s role in contemporary art.

Thoughts

Thoughts

The following libraries have already been included in the program:

THE TOTALITY OF TRUE PROPOSITIONS (BEFORE) Julien Prévieux, France
Julien Prévieux’s library takes the audience on a trip through time. His locally-sourced collection of books brings together publications, manuals, and handbooks filled with concepts and ideas that did not survive the inexorable passage of time. However informative these books are — or once were — their irrelevance today demonstrates how knowledge can ultimately be fleeting. For this library of obsolete books, we collaborated with the libraries at Universidad de Costa Rica and the Costa Rica Institute of Technology. → more

BOOKSHELF BY BARBARA HOFFMANN Barbara Hoffmann, Germany/Switzerland
What are the favorite books of designers who normally create other people’s favorite books? We asked book designer Barbara Hoffmann to select 15 books for display at Despacio. Her selection features books that stand out for their thoughtful interplays of form, material, and content. Or in her words, she picked them for, “: it's the story, the smell, the touch, the grid, the look, the cover, the color, the sound, the paper, the weight, the appeal, the size, the title, and...” so many other reasons for which to love these books. → more

TRAINING TO BE A GIRL Sophie Barbasch, United States
Sophie Barbasch's books originate from asking men on Craigslist simple questions like, “Are you lonely?” “Is there anything you've never told anyone?” “Tell me why I'm a good girl,” “Please send me a picture of your bed,” and “Please write me a love letter.” → more

LIFE IS ELSEWHERE Diana Abi Khalil, Lebanon/France
Diana Abi Khalil writes and draws in her little notebooks about traveling to space, heartache, and questioning moments of doubt. Most of the artist’s notebooks are unfinished or forgotten, others have been smudged by rain or tears, and yet others were lost or gifted to friends or lovers. Playful yet honest, these notebooks each take on lives of their own and for the first time ever are united and on view. → more

POINT OF VIEW An Anthology of the Moving Image
For over 30 years, video and film art have challenged many of the conventions of the art world. From questions of reproduction to issues surrounding acquisition, video and film art have grown from marginalized forms of artistic production to material for mainstream filmmaking and music video production. Point of View is an innovative commissioning and publishing project by the New Museum designed to make video and film art more accessible, and to fully utilize the qualities inherent to the medium. → more

WORDS ENDING ON TAPE with Printed Matter, New York
We collaborated with Printed Matter, Inc. (New York) to revive an almost lost medium. A few decades ago the cassette tape was the most convenient way to record sound material, yet with the fast advancing digital world it is at the verge of being completely forgotten. Nevertheless, artists have continuously used this format to further expand their forms of expression. Listen to the sound of a diary, bodies, an unstable table, singing sand, and of a disassembled cassette in our newest Library in Residence. → more

PRIVATE MATTER Diego Fournier, Costa Rica
Loose pages, fragile, incomplete and sometimes too personal, the artist Diego Fournier lends his sketchbooks to Despacio. By exploring the processes of the everyday, whether ravens eating worms at the plaza, the dancing legs of frogs or a boy experiencing the beach, each of these intertwined stories of personal encounters unfold to new destinations of imagination in a series of 20 handmade sketchbooks. → more

Information

Information

The Library in Residence program opened on March 2016 and runs in parallel to Despacio's exhibition program.