LIBRARY AS CHAOS / LIBRARY AS COSMOS

Tentatively titled “Library as Chaos/Library as Cosmos,” the following description is for a multi-faceted installation that takes Jorge Luis Borges’ and Umberto Eco’s thoughts on “the Library,” along with related historical events such as the destruction and re-building of the Great Library of Alexandria and Gutenberg’s 1434 invention of the printing press, and projects them onto the amorphous and chaotic landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. The installation is composed in two parts, part 1 to be shown at Frehrking Wiesehofer Gallery, Cologne/Germany (Apr 25 – Jun 21), part 2 to be shown at the Kunstverein Ulm/Germany (Jun 1 – Jul 13).

In Los Angeles there are over 100 different languages and dialects spoken by a demographically complex population. The installation deals with with the juxtaposition between these models and the reality of Los Angeles as a postmodern city, with constantly shifting boundaries.

How does this reality fit into Borges’ system of an infinite, organized, yet chaotic and center-less universe? In Borges’ story, “The Library of Babel,” the lack of boundaries drives men to insanity—how does this apply to our new postmodern cities?
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