The Dream of the Library

A huge fascination emanates from books and libraries. The exhibition “The Dream of the Library” sheds light on this fascination from the standpoint of Concept Art.

The book is the alter ego of the visual artwork, its information being organized quite differently. The library, correspondingly, is closely related to the museum. Binding tenets are no longer conceivable or possible for either.

The exhibition “The Dream of the Library” sheds light on this fascination from the standpoint of Concept Art. Of course, the movement's genre of the artist's book has been well-known since the end of the 1960s – however, the intention here is not to focus on the artistically produced book but rather on the act of reading, the acquisition of knowledge, and an examination of the conditions and place that make this possible. The artists in the exhibition refer to play with the collection, its forms of presentation and organizational criteria, ultimately to the overall situation of the library: bookshelves, furniture for display and reading are considered, and not least, the form and positioning of the library in the city is investigated.

“The Dream of the Library” is the farewell exhibition by Museum Director, Dr. Eva Schmidt. As from 1.4.2018, Thomas Thiel is taking charge as the new artistic director of the Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen.