Foundation Art and Public Space
artist: Pierre Huyghe
located in: Universiteitsbibliotheek Utrecht (UBU),
client: Universiteit Utrecht, APNG
The library is a place for individual study and reflection and also represents the quintessential public space. It is where our culture is stored and memories are kept alive. The convergence of these aspects makes the library an interesting place. French artist Pierre Huyghe (1962, living and working in Paris and New York) was approached by SKOR, APNG and the University of Utrecht to develop a plan for a work that would be placed in the university library, a new building that was designed by architect Wiel Arets and is located on the Uithof in Utrecht.
Pierre Huyghe
The University Library of Utrecht (UBU)
In his work Pierre Huyghe investigates the boundaries between reality and fiction and memory and history. Huyghe is interested in how reinterpretations of images (films, events) influence our concept of reality and vice versa. He investigates the role that ideological and semiotic systems play in the establishment of social rituals and traditions. By working with film, video, sound, animation, sculpture and architecture he mingles into his work collective and individual identities. This is accomplished through narrative structures that create shifting meanings.
In Utrecht Pierre Huyghe can use the entire university library as his work area. This includes the plasma screens, the book transport system and the information systems. The work is expected to be completed in the course of 2006.
