Library Science: An ArtSpace Exhibit

Artspace is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition Library
Science
, conceived by New York-based curator Rachel Gugelberger. The exhibition
contemplates our personal, intellectual and physical relationships to the library, with a
focus on how these interactions are changing as libraries adapt to the digital world. From
its socio-cultural meaning to its architectural space and classification tools, the library
informs the methodology and practice of the artists in Library Science, presenting the
work of 17 artists in a variety of media including drawing, photography, sculpture,
installation, painting and web-based projects.

The e

xhibition title refers to Eleanor Antin’s “Library Science” of 1971, a conceptual
work that appropriated library classification methods to represent and archive the
identities of living women. Additionally, the title refers to the field of Library and
Information Science, specifically, studies on library resource usage, human interaction
with library systems, information organization and retrieval technologies and the
acquisition, cataloging, classification and preservation of library materials.

While some of the artists in Library Science explore traditional libraries, others utilize the
Internet as a digital library. Several artists contemplate evidence of physical use or
explore the poetic connections between the organic and the synthetic, instinct and
knowledge. Artists include: Erica Baum (NY), Jorge Méndez Blake (Mexico), David
Bunn (CA), Chris Coffin (NY), Madeline Djerejian (NY), Melissa Dubbin & Aaron S.
Davidson (NY), Philippe Gronon (France), Jose Hernandez (NJ), Candida Höfer
(Germany), Nina Katchadourian (NY), Reynard Loki (NY), Loren Madsen (CA), Allen
Ruppersberg (NY), Mickey Smith (NY), Blane De St.Croix (NY), Xiaoze Xie (CA).

In conjunction with the exhibition at Artspace, Connecticut artists were invited to submit
proposals for research residencies towards creating site and situation-specific projects at
local libraries. Selected artists are: Colin Burke (The Whitney Library of the New Haven
Museum), Heather Lawless (The New Haven Free Public Library), Carol Padberg
(Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University), and Tyler Starr (Robert B. Haas Family
Arts Library at Yale). In addition, an exhibition at The Institute Library, timed to open
with Library Science, will feature a series of new library-based portraits made by
Meredith Miller and Rob Rocke. All participating institutions are in walking distance
from the gallery. A statewide film festival of movies in which the library plays a starring

role is also planned, organized in partnership with the Connecticut Library Consortium.

Library Science seeks to encourage librarians to forge relationships with artists and
support the creation and presentation of new artwork by providing assistance with
research and access to information. The project will also reach out beyond New Haven to
library patrons throughout Connecticut via an online exhibition catalogue. Library
Science is generously supported with funding from The Andy Warhol Foundation, the
National Endowment for the Arts, and the Connecticut Commission on Culture and
Tourism.

Artspace is New Haven’s largest independent visual arts venue, showcasing a mix of
local and national artists in a downtown corner storefront anchoring an affordable
housing complex. Our mission is to catalyze artistic efforts; to connect artists, audiences
and resources; and to redefine art spaces.