Hacking the Library: An Art in the Libraries Exhibition
Now up at WVU Downtown Library
Fall 2024: Marshall University Library
Winter/spring 2025: Virginia Tech University Library
Launch: September 12, 4-6pm, with Featured Speaker: Emily Drabinski, YouTube recording here.
Artists Virtual Discussion: January 26, 12pm, via Zoom. Registration required here. Join 'Hacking the Library' exhibiting artists Jackie Andrews, Trudy Borenstein, Sally Brown, Matthew Conboy, Chantel Foretich, Robin Miller and Xue'er Gao for an artists' roundtable and discussion on Zoom, moderated by art historian Linda Rosefsky.
The hacker ethos in the positive sense is about the ability to deconstruct and reconstruct information systems. Hacking starts with reconceptualizing libraries. Libraries are now beyond the book. As libraries evolve into a new sort of space --still a space for research, learning and study-- but also for community engagement and collaboration, library exhibits present a unique opportunity for both collaborating exhibitors and library users. Artists engage with libraries creatively through artist residencies, installations, using discarded library materials in their work, collaborative workshops, digital collections remixing, performances and more. Hacking the Library will present artwork that highlights the intersecting values that shape our libraries through an artistic lens, reflecting on challenges and definitions of libraries past and as we move into the future. To provide personal context, viewers will enjoy "Community Connections" from librarians across the nation who responded to the artwork.
Artists included: Jackie Andrews (Maryland, mixed media), Trudy Borenstein- Sugiura (New Jersey, book arts), Sally Jane Brown (West Virginia, drawing), Shan Cawley (West Virginia, painting), Matthew Conboy (Pennsylvania, digital), Chantel Foretich (New Mexico, sculpture), Xue'er Gao (Pennsylvania, book arts), Ryan Lewis (Michigan, video), Robin Miller (West Virginia, mixed media), Irmari Nacht (New Jersey, book arts), Chris Revelle (Arkansas, sculpture), Erin Tapley (North Carolina, sculpture) and honorary artwork by Liuqing Ruth Yang (West Virginia, mixed media).
Thank you to the scholars of the 2023 Fullbright Pre-Academic Program for researching and creating a libraries timeline to coincide with the exhibit!
Resource: Libraries History Library Guide
Exhibit Consultation Committee
- Karen Diaz, Dean of WVU Libraries
- Sarah Palfrey, Director of Morgantown Public Libraries
- Christine Hoffman, WVU Associate Professor of English
- Lois Raimondo, WVU Associate Professor of Journalism
- Sally Jane Brown, WVU Libraries Exhibits Coordinator
- WVU Libraries Art in the Libraries Committee
Exhibit Sponsors