Cape Town-based artist Barbara Wildenboer crafts dynamic sculptural works by flaying and dissecting discarded books creating a new narrative form. Slicing, folding, cutting, and gluing, Wildenboer reconceptualizes the abandoned encyclopedias and textbooks as art objects.
h/t Thrillist.com
Last month, street artist Sofles created an incredible project called “Graffiti Mapping” for the Melbourne White Night Festival. Using a combination of 3D video mapping, traditional street mural art techniques and graffiti, he explored the intersection of art and digital technology. Sadly, the project lasted for only one night, but we can get a taste in this amazing video below.
Continuing an annual tradition of celebrating Irish Literature on St Patrick’s Day for the fifth year, the Irish Arts Center of New York City will be handing out thousands of free books to school children and commuters. Volunteers will distribute copies of works by Wilde, Joyce, Yeats, and also contemporary Irish writers at transit hubs throughout the five boroughs. Information and the exact location of giveaway spots can be found on the Center’s website.
On April 18th, the new Literature Museum of the Austrian National Library will officially open in Vienna. The institution will document the nation’s literature with rare manuscripts, books, letters, photographs, illustrations and related objects. Situated in the heart of the city’s historic district at Johannessgasse 6, the museum will be located in a grand 19th century building that once housed the archives of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Exchequer. I’m told that the focus will be on literary life and authors from the 18th century to the present.
I first had the pleasure of visiting Shakespeare and Company bookstore more than 30 years ago, and I still return without fail each and every time that I’m in Paris. But not every book lover gets to browse Europe’s most beloved independent book shop. Now everyone can pay a virtual visit thanks to Shakespeare and Company’s new digital presence. There’s a completely revamped website—with e-commerce facility—a blog appropriately titled “Le Blog”, and a tumblr called “Down the rabbit hole”.
If you’d like to pass some time at 37 rue de la Bûcherie, and even buy some books to support the Parisian institution, now’s your chance. Owner Sylvia Beach Whitman promises:
In return for your online purchase, we’ll endeavor to give your books that certain je ne sais quoi. It could be with the bookstore’s official stamp, a vintage postcard of Paris we found in a second-hand book, or a pocket-sized poem typed by a Tumbleweed at the desk looking onto Notre-Dame. Each package will be carefully, beautifully boxed and shipped, sent like a message in a bottle to you or perhaps to a friend, a message of warmth and solidarity that wherever you may be, in whatever town or city, there’s always a home for readers and literary wanderers at Shakespeare and Company.
For many travelers, it has become increasingly important not only to see a city, but to become temporarily part of the fabric of a place. The new Carl Goes series of travel guides hopes to help visitors go beyond the well-trodden tourist trail and attractions to help travelers really discover cities for themselves.
Carl Goes Berlin, written and edited by Sasha Arms, is the initial offering in the city guide series,which will soon include London, Leipzig and Amsterdam. The small guide book is divided into five sections: Contents, Essentials, Work, Live, and Getting Away & getting Lost. Each section incorporates suggestions from local residents offering personal advice on non-touristy activities.
The Carl Goes series seems tilted towards digital nomads who may be looking for ways to discover a local niche while seeing a city as a untypical tourist. The rest of us can always use a print guide book that helps us to uncover the layers of a city that we often miss.
There’s more information on the Carl Goes website, where you can also pick up a copy for €19.95.
As part of its Living Knowledge campaign, the British Library released this wonderful video on a typical day in the life of the library. The original soundtrack, by DJ Yoda, was constructed by sampling the British Library’s enormous sound collection.
Travel Between The Pages 