Although library call numbers are typically found on the spines of books, a few can be found on campus buildings.
These library call letters are remnants of Professor of Studio Art Jeffrey Schiff’s installation “Library Project,” which premiered on campus and in Middletown in November 2003.
The installation was composed of nine parts: “Yeast,” “Planet,” “Deluge,” “Number,” “Worlds of…,” “Masterpiece,” “Excavations,” “Cover to Cover,” and “Index.” Five years later, only “Index,” which involved library call letters, and “Masterpiece” remain.
“The way we think of the library is as an index to the world; the world is larger, the library is concentrated. All these works in some way reference the world,” Schiff said in a 2003 article in “The Hartford Advocate.” “Just getting a sense of how vast the library is“that it’s a universe unto itself”it occurred to me that that equation can be reversed. In a way, the world becomes an index to the library because the library is so constantly influencing every way in which we perceive and think about the world.”
In “Index,” the artists stuck black letters spelling out library call numbers in 500 different places on campus and around Middletown. Many of the numbers have disappeared, but a few remain: in a PAC classroom, on 200 Church, and on a cubicle in the Argus office above Broadstreet Books. The remnants serve as a second look into the way a library’s work extends out into the world.
For instance, BR517.S32 2003, the number on the Argus cubicle, is the call number for a book about religious conviction in American journalism and higher education.
Schiff began the project in the fall of 2001, and then developed it into a tutorial for three University students: James Jacobus ’03, Myra Rassmussen ’04 and Aki Sasomoto ’04.
Jacobus, who was a studio art major while at Wesleyan, now works at a commercial and residential architectural firm in Berkeley, Calif., where he was hired to help the firm move toward more sustainable design practices.
Jacobus remembers the project as an inspiring collective effort.
“[Professor Schiff] gave us the premise and then he was our guide for the duration of the project,” Jacobus said. “Having three other artists present at the conception of an idea to help you shape it into what could potentially become an art piece is frightening, but it taught me a whole new way to approach creative endeavors, it offered a perfect balance of rigor and support.”
The project continued into the summer and came to fruition with a successful six-week exhibition in the fall of 2003, garnering articles in the Hartford papers as well as a review in The New York Times.
“Masterpiece,” a set of 13 digital prints, still hangs on the walls of Olin’s main reading room. Highlighted words spell out a quote from artist and novelist Jean Cocteau: “The greatest masterpiece of literature is only a dictionary out of order.”
Jacobus said that the importance of the subject matter of “The Library Project” as a whole translated into an equally significant experience for him personally.
“Working collaboratively on such a broadly-scoped project was an irreplaceable experience.” he said. “The lessons I learned from working with these brilliant artists with such strong vision may be the most practical lessons I’ve been able to carry with me into the professional field.”
Leave a Reply