Category Archives: events and exhibitions

The Library Café Returns

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The Library Café, an independent, weekly radio interview program hosted by Vassar Art Librarian Thomas Hill, returns to the airwaves on WVKR (91.3 FM) this semester. The first interview, airing Wednesday, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m., will be with Werner Pfeiffer, who will discuss the exhibition of his work presently on view in the Thompson Library, Van Ingen Art Library, and Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center entitled: “Reexamining Books: Book Objects and Artist’s Books by Werner Pfeiffer.” The Library Café features interviews with scholarly authors, publishers, librarians, technologists, and artists about books, ideas, and the formation and circulation of knowledge. Podcasts of past interviews, along with a listing of future programs, can be found on the program website at: http://library-cafe.org.

Thomas Hill is the Digital Art Librarian at Vassar College Libraries.  Contact him at thhill AT vassar.edu.

Our New North Entrance

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Feeling underwater in the library?  Perhaps it’s the decor. Over the summer Vassar’s Harry Roseman transformed the accessible/after-hours entrance of the Library situated across from Chicago Hall with a permanent mixed-media installation entitled “North Entrance.”  The project involved a complete repainting of the space, renovated by architect Barry Price around a new elevator core, with a vibrant, undulating blue and green pattern somewhat reminiscent of David Hockney’s pool paintings,  as well as a sculptural intervention of painted iron extensions to the staircase balusters that continue the flux and fluidity of the wall pattern.

 

According to the artist, one impetus behind his spirited design is to help people with physical challenges feel less constrained by earth and gravity:  “I see this installation as metaphorically Air, Light, and Water…. My hope is that walking into this space will momentarily make the person entering feel less heavily grounded to the earth, and to make the architecture seem lighter and more fluid.” Another ambition is that the space will continue to seem fresh and new to the beholder: “One experiences something only once for the first time.  I am hopeful for those using this entrance on a regular basis that some of that initial reaction will hold and that it will continue to resonate in a number of ways over time.”

To enter the space is indeed to step outside of the ordinary into a floating world tinged by imagination and new ways of seeing the familiar, which is what, after all, libraries are much about.  Assisting Professor Roseman in the installation were Vassar alums Christina Teaglia ’97, Charlotte Terry ’12, and Juliana Halpert ’12, and artist Eric Zimmerman.

Mounting the Werner Pfeiffer exhibition

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Posted on behalf of Ron Patkus, Director of Archives and Special Collections

On the surface, the installation of an exhibition in the library seems like a pretty straightforward affair: two or three times a year a librarian will bring a cart full of materials from the Archives and Special Collections Library upstairs and spend a morning or an afternoon placing them in the cases near the main lobby.  In reality though, the process is more complex.  Planning for the exhibition can take weeks and even months, as a librarian determines what will be on display and where.  A conservator usually assists by creating custom-made mats, enclosures and other constructions that preserve the materials during the exhibition period.

This fall the installation of “Re-examining books: Book Objects and Artist Books by Werner Pfeiffer” was especially interesting and challenging, for a number of reasons.  First, unlike any previous exhibition, this one actually has not one but three venues: the Main Library, the Art Library, and the Art Center.  Rather than taking just one day, in this case the installation took an entire week!  The exhibition invitation and catalog physically reflect the three areas: when folded out, the invitation is a three-sided document, and the catalog, rather than being read in a straight linear fashion, is actually composed of three different sections, running different ways.

Invitation

 

Second, unusual materials were displayed in the library.  Rather than books and manuscripts, as is normally the case, this time sculptures were presented, while books and prints were showcased in the Art Center.  This re-arrangement of materials goes against the traditional presentations one expects to see.  The approach presented certain challenges for the library, as some of the sculptures needed special attention to be displayed properly.  The largest piece, titled “Suspended,” required several people to put it in place, as a special beam had to be hoisted against walls in the hallway, and then the parts of the sculpture had to be hung from it.

Another aspect of this installation that was different from others is that many people, not just a librarian from Special Collections, were involved.  Thomas Hill, the Art Librarian, played an important role in setting up the exhibition in the two library venues, while Patricia Phagan and others in the Art Center assisted in the creation of a display there.  Moreover, the artist, Werner Pfeiffer, was himself deeply involved in all aspects of the mounting of the exhibition.  He built special pedestals and devices for displaying and hanging the sculptures, and lent assistance in the arrangement of items in particular cases.

 

The sculptures and artist books in “Re-Examining Books” challenge us to re-think the place of books in our lives and in our culture.  They do this in ways that are often provocative and sometimes unnerving.   Interestingly, not only do the items in the exhibition challenge us to engage in a process of reflection, aspects of the exhibition (multiple venues, atypical arrangements, and intensive collaborations) do this too.

Please join us for this exhibition’s opening reception in the Art Library, Thursday, September 6th from 5-7 pm.