Trong Gia Nguyen
Plath: Colossus (complete poem), 2022
etched acrylic, rice kernels, ink
140 x 95 x 10 mm
© Trong Gia Nguyen
Library (Anthology for Beginners) is a series in which the artist writes singular chapters or the complete text of various literary works, word for word, on individual grains of rice....
Library (Anthology for Beginners) is a series in which the artist writes singular chapters or the complete text of various literary works, word for word, on individual grains of rice. The project reframes the notion of the library as a repository of knowledge, in particular how books accumulate and disseminate information and ideas. The laborious act of transcribing and slowly reading these texts is equally akin to a manic, meditative type of performance art. Like reciting poetry, the words take on a new context. The act of reading and transcribing, at molasses pace, thus becomes a way of “performing Austen” or “performing Shakespeare.”