Books for a Public Library

Additional Information

fire ship, Books of Knowledge series, 1995-96, illuminated books, aluminum

Like the Regina Public Library itself, Dunlop Art Gallery's walls will be lined with books for an exhibition by Toronto-based artist Ian Carr-Harris. It is fitting that Carr-Harris, who has a Masters of Library Science, has made a career out of conceptual artworks that incorporate language, thoughts, and everyday objects. It is also fitting that this exhibition marks the beginning of Regina Public Library's 90th Anniversary celebrations. Carr-Harris' installation, Books for a Public Library, is an evocation of the power of the word, and books, in today's increasingly computer-oriented world. It also illustrates the power of art, a visual language, as a form of communication, upon which new technologies depend. By understanding the role of visual communication in knowledge -- Carr-Harris suggests -- we more fully understand the world around us. All of the works in this exhibition plug in, and light up from behind -- a play on Medieval "illuminated" manuscripts. However, the electricity incorporated into the artwork also underscores the increasing prominence of the visual in an increasingly digitized world. With allusions to the past, and future technologies, Carr-Harris illustrates how the different ways we receive knowledge play a vital role society, history and politics.