Saturday 1 May 2010

Literate Hamsters


Okay, not quite, but you've got admit it does look like something you'd give to a very posh hamster.

Imagine it, inside the cage this little fluffy (and in my experience, evil) animal running around its wheel reading Dostoevsky and thinking about sunflower seeds?* You got to admit you'd be impressed if you saw that.

Designed by David Garcia, The Archive Series, investigates the relationship human beings have with books. Whether you only ever have the books you are currently reading (one example Garcia gives is of a family friend who had an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the books he had read, but gave away all books once he had) or your a hoarder of literary works, there is always a very special connection to books.

Archive II (above) relates to the contradiction between the behaviour of the collector and the nomadic lifestyle. How can a nomadic book collector carry a vast library since books weigh such a considerable amount? Garcia's solution is to step inside this personal space and walk away with half a tonne of books.

"The average reader can read about 240 words per minute
A 300 page book normally takes 9 hours to read, non stop
I you read while you walk, you can read a book in about 43 kilometers
If you read and walk, watch out for traffic." (D. Garcia)

Through Garcia's design both nomadic reader, who wanders with nose pressed firmly in a book, and private reader, who enjoys the solitude are allowed to enjoy their bibliophilia.
Listening: Karima Francis - Again

* "Reading Dostoevsky and Thinking about Crisps" by Sarah Boyd (my sister published in Ada and other Nano Fiction)

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