The Human Library

The Human Library

The Sunday Paper #530

November 3, 2024

I hope you slept that extra hour last night.

I was waiting for an idea to fall from the sky to address the upcoming election and the stress that I’m feeling, seeing, hearing and reading about. And then it dropped! My friend Lisa sent me an instagram message about The Human Library®.  Now, I love libraries and happen to think they are one of the greatest inventions of all time. And I think about how humans are connected all the time – my installation work deals with this. So I had to do a little research, and was so pleased with what I found.

“The Human Library® provides some of the most stigmatized groups in the community with a chance to be unjudged,” said Ronni Abergel, CEO and head of administration for the Copenhagen-based non-profit organization. “We’re not fighting for diversity. We’re a safe space to explore it.”

At The Human Library®, human books are volunteers with personal experience with their topic. The Human Library® is a place where difficult questions are expected, appreciated and answered.

There are thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of organizations around the world who, like The Human Library®, are working in communities large and small for the common good: neighbors helping neighbors across all kinds of divides.

As we await the outcome of the election (and who knows how long we’ll have to wait) I continue to have hope for our country and the world.

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Origami is typically associated with playground folds, not geometric patterns that can repeat infinitely on a single sheet of paper. These patterns are called origami tessellations and often look like snowflakes – perfect for winter decorating!

Whether you’re brand new to origami tessellations or have been folding them for years, Advent of Tessellations is a chance to enjoy 25 quick completions of small projects (over 25 days) that gradually build in difficulty so you can learn tessellation folding skills and have fun while doing it! Each tessellation is folded from a hexagon and takes around 30 minutes for an experienced origami folder to fold. Sign up to join Advent of Tessellations, where you’ll also find a supply list for the challenge and how to get them.

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I wrote about the recent exhibition Bark Paper a few weeks ago. Maḏayin: Eight Decades of Aboriginal Australian Bark Painting from Yirrkala presents a watershed moment in global art history, sharing with the American public a history of Aboriginal Australian bark painting curated by Yolŋu knowledge holders from Arnhem Land in Northern Australia. The exhibition’s presentation culminates in New York at Asia Society, through January 5, 2025.

Yäma Munuŋgirritj, ca. 1920–1987. Yarrwiḏi-Gumatj clan. Gurruŋawuy, 1961. Natural pigments on bark. H. 28 x W. 15 in. (71.1 x 38.1 cm). Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia. Edward L. Ruhe Collection, Gift of John W. Kluge, 1997.

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I’m not sure whether Anchorage is a winter destination (I hope to get a note about this) but this exhibition title sounds appropriate: Frozen Forms, created in collaboration with Collective Paper Aesthetics, a Netherlands-based architectural design group, is an installation of large sculptures that evoke ice crystal formations found in snow: stellar dendrite, needle, and capped column. While snowflakes’ crystalline structure forms through bonded water molecules, these forms are shaped by interlocking modular components made of recycled cardboard. Opening soon at the Anchorage Museum: November 15, 2024 – April 6, 2025.

Image credit: Mudam Luxembourg

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If you are anywhere near Boston, I highly recommend attending this lecture on November 8th at 2:30pm Eastern. John Buchtel will present an overview of the Boston Athenaeum’s exhibition The Art of Paper: Claire Van Vliet and the Janus Press. The talk will focus on Van Vliet’s innovations in hand papermaking and her imaginative non-adhesive book structures. I so wish I lived closer! An exhibition catalog will be available for purchase, too. If you can’t make it to the lecture, the exhibition is up through December 30th.

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Paper Tidbits

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About Our Sponsor:  Gathering Folds teaches aspiring origami tessellation folders how to fold tessellations at all difficulty levels by teaching the skills and theory behind all tessellations so that you can enjoy folding any tessellation that you encounter and even start designing your own. These skills are taught through free challenges like Advent of Tessellations and paid courses and ebooks.

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In My Studio Shop

As the holidays approach, I’m going to be featuring a few products in my online shop.

In 2021, I created an artist’s book, called Intensio. I have six different string drawings that I am offering as artist’s proofs, which can be framed or folded and kept as a movable object. (1-3 signed and numbered copies of each image are available). Click on the first image to access the page where you can view (and purchase) all six drawings.

If you read this blog regularly, would you consider making a donation to support the research, writing, design and delivery of The Sunday Paper?

Tell 4000 paper enthusiasts about your work by promoting your business in The Sunday Paper.

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2 Comments

  1. Beth Kephart says:

    Thank you. This is what we need today. I fervently believe that what we need this election week will also be given unto us. It has to be.

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