The Open Library, Graz - Location #1 - Terminal Point

The project was part of the exhibition „Knowledge: Aspects of Contemporary Conceptual Art” at Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California, 1992

Project Description

The Open library was constructed at three urban sites. They are free standing structures, fully functional, designed bookshelves.¹ The libraries were operated without librarians or guards, and no restrictions were imposed on the contents of the reading material. The books in each library were collected from the residents of the area where the library was placed.²

The collection of the library gradually changed, books were taken and replaced (or exchanged) at the discretion of the users.³ The library became a local institution that helped define the community by reflecting its reading habits, intellectual preoccupations, and mirrored the community's investment in its own institutions. As such the library can be seen as portrait of that community.

Documentation and Exhibition

As a counterpart to the outdoor library, a photographic model of the library was installed indoors (in the Grazer Kunstverein). The exhibition served as a documentation center where the overall impact of the project could be evaluated. Visitors of the Kunstverein were encouraged to visit the libraries. Conversely, the residents of the communities in which the libraries were installed were invited to the museum.

"The Open Library, Graz - Location #1, Terminal Point" documents the condition of the library at location #1 at the end of the project. On the table you will find three lists of the books which were available at the library during the 'life' of the project. The books are sorted by Author, Title and publication date.

Technical Notes