Ranganathan

“Ranganathan, Mon Amour”

[Installed in the International Center of Photography Library]

in “The Exquisite Landscape: A Transcript of Sight,” an exhibition in the Rita K. Hillman Gallery at

the International Center of Photography curated by Marla Leigh Caplan

September 10, 2010 - January 2, 2011

When Marla Caplan, a former colleague and an alum of the ICP/Bard MFA Program sent out the call for submissions for an exhibition commemorating the anniversary of the program, her overall notion was something that would enter into dialog with the institution of ICP in some way. I was immediately struck with the idea that this would present the tantalizing possibility of being able to combine my 2 halves: the librarian and artist halves in a dialog about the ICP, and, in particular, its library as a laboratory for artists.

The starting point was the 5 rules for reference libraries posited by Ranganathan, which I embroidered onto cushions for the seats in the library. There was also a constructed reading selection of "accidental photobooks" with embroidered covers noting the facets in Ranganathan's method of classification and aprons for the library workers with Ranganathan's rules for reference on them.