"When I first heard of Es Devlin's latest project, a 50-foot revolving library plunked on the sands of Miami Beach at 32nd and Collins in partnership with Faena Art, my immediate thought was how much better this sounded than so many of the gratuitous beach artworks I've stared at miserably over the years. Who could forget the "Great Elephant Migration" of 2024, magnet for selfie seekers and hyperactive young climbers? Devlin's piece, "Library of Us," sounded different, thoughtful."
""Let others pride themselves about how many pages they have written; I'd rather boast about the ones I've read." That quote, which is by Jorge Luis Borges, is one of many that emanate from Devlin's spinning installation, drawn from the books on display and spoken by the artist herself. But little reading was taking place at the opening event for the massive artwork on Monday night, December 1, which drew a few hundred people to Faena Beach's private sands."
Es Devlin installed a 50-foot revolving structure titled Library of Us on Miami Beach in partnership with Faena Art, stocked with books for public reading and destined for donation to local organizations. The installation projects and speaks quotations drawn from the displayed books, including a line by Jorge Luis Borges. The opening gathered a few hundred attendees for a violin performance and an introductory address, yet observing actual reading at the event was minimal. The artist recalled childhood immersion in books, lamented diminished attention spans attributed to smartphones, and framed the work as an attempt to rekindle sustained reading.
Read at Hyperallergic
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