« Found Library »

• collaboration with Carla Cruz,
• Daniele Marx and Rita Rodrigues
• artist in residence, exhibition and performance
• curated by Catherine Baÿ
• The Window - Paris, 2013

The idea behind “Public Library” emerged in 2007. As a result of attending Martha Rosler's presentation of her personal library at the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art in Paris, I began to consider the concept of a library as a statement about oneself. Can the bibliographic selections of an individual be considered a statement, a declaration?

Our first move was to assemble a collective library in the Plumba art gallery (Oporto, 2008), made up exclusively of books lent to the collection by our friends. A "curatorial" choice made out of shared intellectual interests, it was an attempt to create a statement out of many voices.
Concurrently, and beginning in 2007, I've been collecting books found on the street. These random findings have been documented and shared on Facebook. The project came to a conclusion with the artist residency at The Window in Paris. With the book collection at its base, it took the form of an exhibit and a participatory performance. But how do we catalog a library that was found, little by little, in city streets? How do we draw the map of chance?

The "Cesca" chair was designed by Marcel Breuer in 1928. Today it is a symbol of modernity's history and its hopes. Here it was subverted in the form a sedan chair.