Recycling books has never been so monumentally
beautiful — and ultimately lasting — as when 30,000 volumes were
assembled to create the “Tower of Babel.”
mage: Estrella Herrera/Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires
An 82-foot-tall tower made out of thousands of books — 30,000 such
“bricks” to be precise? We can see book lovers’ eyes light up with glee
in view of all the reading material, only to be extinguished by the
thought of such a waste. But bookworms and environmentalists can relax
and rejoice! Not a single volume was harmed in the process of building
this massive structure. On the contrary…
The “Tower of Babel,” as it is officially called, was the brainchild of acclaimed Argentinean artist
Marta MinujÃn.
MinujÃn devised the tower in celebration of Buenos Aires being chosen
as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization’s (UNESCO) 2011 World Book Capital. The used raw materials
were donated by libraries and readers eager to help, as well as more
than 50 embassies.
The 30,000 books, in dozens of languages, were draped over a
seven-story metal scaffold structure, which stood from May 7 to May 28,
2011. For nearly a month, this “Babel of Books” was a place where many
languages flowed together, allowing visitors from even the remotest
locations on Earth to find a book in their language.
This visual experience was supported by an audio installation of
MinujÃn’s music along with the artist saying the word “book” in dozens
of languages. A full literary immersion, so to speak.
Just laying out the books like tiles on the walls of the tower took
10 full days, but the effort was well worth it. MinujÃn explains:
“Building this tower has been a miraculous experience… A hundred years
from now, people will say, ‘There was a Tower of Babel in Argentina… and
it didn’t need translation because art needs no translation.’” A
wonderful thought, indeed, and it got even better.
At the end of the installation, some lucky visitors were allowed to
take home a book each. And to make up for the fact that those who came
to see the tower could not actually browse through the books (they had
been wrapped in plastic to protect them from the elements), the rest
will form the basis for a new book archive called the “Library of
Babel.” Book lovers will know this to be the title of a popular short
story by Jorge Luis Borges, one of Argentina’s most famous authors.
In our age of
eBooks
and eReaders — in which the number of brick-and-mortar bookstores keeps
dwindling, making way for online enterprises — it is a joy to see an
installation that celebrates books in their physical form and builds
them into a monument, even if only temporary. Taking second-hand books
that have been read and rifled through is the icing on the cake,
confirmation that books need to be shared to be fully appreciated, and a
reminder that recycling can take many forms.
The new library and archive will be another long-term haven for book
lovers, uniting many languages and books under one roof. We’ll try to
keep you updated when it ultimately open its doors.
MinujÃn is one of Argentina’s most famous artists. She studied art at
the National University Art Institute in Buenos Aires and started
exhibiting her work in 1959. In the early ’60s, a scholarship brought
her to Paris, where she got the inspiration for her “happenings” — art
installations as events that involve the community. Among the most
memorable of these happenings were her assembled mattresses — “livable”
artworks that were later destroyed by fellow artists as part of the
installation.
After a decade in New York, where she rubbed shoulders with Andy
Warhol and other contemporaries, MinujÃn returned to Argentina in 1976.
Celebrating the country’s return to democracy in 1983, she created her
first book structure, the “Parthenon of Books.” It too was made up of of
30,000 titles (in this case banned books) to celebrate the newly gained
freedom of expression. More fascinating projects and happenings can be
found on
Marta MinujÃn’s website.
Additional sources: 1, 2
About the author
Simone is a writer and editor at Environmental
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