MASS MoCA

The Secret Lives of Books was part of the larger exhibition Bibliothecaphilia, on view at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts from January 2015 through April 2016.

The piece occupies a single room. A book sits on an ottoman at the center while long ribbons of its pages appear to escape and travel up the walls, suggesting a mild but determined revolt. A Tiffany-style lamp casts a warm light onto a wingback chair. The reader has stepped away briefly, though the book remains fully engaged.

The work considers the power of books—their ability to transport readers across time, space, and occasionally common sense. A book can move us instantly to distant lands or send us on grand adventures without requiring physical effort. The potential is considerable.

This piece is about the lives books lead: the many hands they pass through, pages bent and worn, evidence of repeated use and quiet attachment. It reflects on the relationships between books and their readers, and the accumulation of knowledge and experience contained within their pages. The many lives encountered without leaving the room.

The work imagines this as the energy stored within a book—contained neatly in its pulpy interior, waiting.