A Million Keys

The Reanimation Library opens up a new space! /// "Play" at Proteus Gowanus


Image above from the Reanimation Library’s collection

Ooo! This is exciting. The Reanimation Library is a collection available for creative re-use of found and discarded books. Andrew Beccone, who began the library, co-curated a wonderful exhibition series last year on the topic of libraries for the gallery Proteus Gowanus. He is now opening up a space just next door. See below for more about the Reanimation Library’s space and the new exhibition series Play at Proteus Gowanus.

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The Reanimation Library will be debuting its new space this Friday, September 14th at 6:00 PM. The Library has moved into a space adjacent to Proteus Gowanus, which it is sharing with the Museum of Matches and an archive of material produced by the Anonima Group. Proteus Gowanus is throwing an opening reception for its new exhibit, “Play.”

You can see pictures of the new space here:

http://www.reanimationlibrary.org/pages/072007.htm
http://www.reanimationlibrary.org/pages/082007.htm
http://www.reanimationlibrary.org/pages/news.htm

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Proteus Gowanus invites you to the opening reception for the yearlong interdisciplinary exhibit Play Friday, September 14, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.

“You shall not bite, or not bite hard, your brother’s ear.”

Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens, (1944)

It is with great excitement that we launch our 2007/2008
interdisciplinary theme “Play” at Proteus Gowanus. This year we will explore the versatile meanings of “Play,” investigating its history and future as the bedrock of culture; its regenerative power as the creative basis of every discipline and as the spark that ignites the child’s imagination; and its darker role in our entertainment-obsessed culture. The exhibit will include an array of play-related art, artifacts, objects, books and events (Check our website for details), and will unfold over the course of the year generated by suggestions of visitors to the gallery, a growing number of “PG Correspondents,” and by the rich interdisciplinary resources of nine collaborating non-profit organizations.

We introduce the year with the Play Book, not a catalog, but a book to be played with – a loose compilation of artist-designed games, play-related text and images, including pages of anagrams and palindromes, ponderings on the meaning of play, conundrums by Lewis Carroll, and a short play by Gertrude Stein. A description and pre-publication subscription offer is available on our website. The Play Book is the first of a series of publications called Proteotypes that grow out of Proteus Gowanus programs.

Proteus Gowanus is also pleased to announce:
Two new permanent installations of an archival nature have joined The Museum of Matches, A Cold War Room in the space adjacent to Proteus Gowanus: The Reanimation Library www.reanimationlibrary.org, an independent library serving artists, writers and cultural archeologists; and Anonima, an archive of art, books and ephemera from a 1960’s artist collaborative.

The Play exhibit and programs will be co-curated by Maddy Rosenberg and PG Co-Founder/Director Sasha Chavchavadze.

Play Correspondents include: artist/animator Pahl Hluchan;
artist/filmmaker Jeanne Liotta; Brooklyn Museum Librarian/Curator of Books Deirdre Lawrence; toy designer/historian/educator Karen Hewitt; and author/video game expert Heather Chaplin.

Play Participants include: Rosaire Appel, Gerard Barbot, The Brooklyn Museum Library, Cabinet Magazine, Ted Chafee, Heather Chaplin, Chris Cogburn, Donn Davis, Susan Dunkerley, Joanna Ebenstein, The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, Marty Greenbaum, Melissa Henley, Karen Hewitt, The Kentler International Drawing Space Satellite Flatfile of Contemporary Prints, Halona Hilbertz , Pahl Hluchan, Sharon Horvath, Leslie Kerby, Jenni Knight, Tom La Farge, Jeanne Liotta, Desi Minchillod, David Moore/Bing and Ruth, Place in History, Shervone Nichols, Debra Pearlman, Alan Rosner, Lance Rutledge, Sally Sturman, The Institute For Figuring, Dan Torop, Ugly Duckling Presse, Paulus Van Horne, Vertical Player Repertory, Wendy Walker, Jane Zweibel, 99 Hooker.

The Artistsbook Library: Eileen Arnow-Levine, Carol Barton, Mindy Belloff, Doug Beube, Mark Staff Brandl, Stephanie Brody-Lederman, Catya Plate, Libby Clarke, Lucinda Cobley, Beatrice Coron, Maureen Cummins, Sandra C. Fernandez, Anne Gilman, Geoff Green, Martha Haydn, Bob Heman, Susan Hensel, Kumi Korf, David Lantow, Andre Lee, Jill Mckeown, Veronica Morgan, Florence Neal, Heidi Neilson, Susan Newmark, Sarah Nicholls, Donna Maria Perkins, Amee Pollack Laurie Spitz, Purgatory Pie Press – Dikko Faust and Esther Smith, Evelyn Eller Rosenbaum, Maddy Rosenberg, Susan Rotolo, Elsie Sampson, Miriam Schaer, Susan Share, Shirley Sharoff, Carolyn Shattuck, Robbin Ami Silverberg, Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, Micki Watanabe Spiller, April Vollmer, Debra Weier.

Come visit!

Proteus Gowanus
543 Union Street Nevins Street Gate Brooklyn, NY 11215 www.proteusgowanus.com infoproteusgowanus.com
718-243-1572