Check out exhibition of book-based art at University of Akron library


Give a book to Buzz Spector, and he's likely to stack it up with hundreds of other books or tear it apart page by page.

The acclaimed artist and writer has sculpted, stacked and otherwise transformed countless books in order to create works about the relationships among public history, individual memory and perception. For "They Called Her Styrene," he transformed a book of text paintings by artist Ed Ruscha from a six-sided object to a five-sided one, its covers coming to a point. For "Spine 2," he stacked 33 opened art history books, one for each vertebra in the human spinal column.

Now he is collaborating with students from The University of Akron's Myers School of Art in "Thoughts as Pages, Stacks as Memories," a free exhibition March 12 through April 18 in the lobby of UA's Bierce Library. In addition to Spector's works, the exhibition will feature works created by students in a painting class taught by UA Art Professor Matthew Kolodziej.

To open the exhibition, Spector will give a free public lecture at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, in the auditorium of Folk Hall, home of the Myers School of Art, 150 E. Exchange St.

Dual purpose for books

For their part of the exhibition, the art students have created works from books donated by UA's Center for the History of Psychology. The students studied the content before altering the books, and also incorporated their artistic responses to the center's intriguing collection of devices used for testing memory and perception. Some of the devices are also in the exhibition.
 
Bierce Library, 302 Buchtel Common, is open Mondays through Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. until midnight, Fridays from 7:30 a.m. until 9 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sundays from noon to midnight.
 
The exhibition is a collaboration among Spector and The University of Akron’s University Libraries, Center for the History of Psychology, Akron Printmaking Enthusiasts, Synapse Art+Science series and Myers School of Art. For more information, contact Stephanie Dawson Everett at sdawson@uakron.edu or 330-972-7224.

Media contact: Cyndee Snider, 330-972-5196 or cyndee@uakron.edu.