This exhibition was curated by Simon Morris in parralel with the release of Craig Dworkin's book, The Perverse Library, published by Information As Material. It built on a legacy of residencies and exhibitions co-organised by Information as Material and held at Shandy Hall, the former home of the celebrated 18th-century English writer Laurence Sterne, which is now a museum in rural England dedicated to exploring his astounding and continuing contribution to the arts.
The show featured a generation of artists who have sought a radical reconsideration of the relationship between literature and the visual arts. It adapted the logic of a library – a perverse one at that – to present various entwined strands of work: A pair of Invisible Bookshleves by Canadian architect Michael Farrion plus dispaly vitrines throughout the gallery featured book-based works; Bouvard et Pécuchet’s Invented Desk for Copying by Canadian artist Gareth Long offered as a reading station, for romance and copying; ‘A Sonic Library’ curated by American poet Kenneth Goldsmith from UbuWeb Radio populated a listening station; and a set of carbonised books called The Black Library by English artist-collector Greville Worthington created fertiliser for growing vegetables in the Hall's gardens.
In the context of the show, six new works were publshed by Information As Material, including broadsides and books, and a new documentary film was launched.
