Situations for 11.4.24 (aka happenings, events, gatherings, performances) are listed below.
6th floor Sharp
An altar is a collective site for magic. It is a place where individuals memorialize ancestors, establish rituals of hope for the future, and cast spells. Anna Martine Whitehead’s RSI class will spend the morning building altars of both found and original material at key sites throughout the library. Beside each altar students will leave open-ended directions for how the public might respond (e.g., This altar is to the Goddess of Obsolete Media). Visitors will be encouraged to add their own notes, or peruse the library for an object that could be placed on the altar. Students from our class will return in the afternoon to document the resulting altars and disassemble.
6th floor Sharp
Elena Ailes’ RSI class is collecting one sentence secrets, confessions, and mysterious stories, which then become the prompt for an exquisite corpse-style writing installation. Each secret or confession becomes the seed for a new, co-authored short story. Co-authors contribute to the story, one sentence at a time, via sticky note. These sticky note stories are a “choose your own adventure” in both reading and writing. Anyone is welcome to share their secrets, and everyone is welcome to co-author a short story. The prompts will be installed by 11 AM, but co-writing our short stories is open for the duration of the bibliodérive. Submit your secret, confession, or mysterious story here.
6th floor Sharp
Visit the craft station in the library for an activity featured in a past issue of the Fwd: Museums journal and demonstrate the craft to any willing participant. The staff of the journal will also bring issues of Fwd: Museums to give away and answer any questions for people interested in submitting to the journal.
6th floor Sharp
In “Echoes of Tomorrow: Crafting a Micronation”, participants are invited to roam the library and imagine artifacts from a fictional future micronation, exploring how its culture, values, and unique survival needs would shape its identity. Through a series of open-ended actions, participants will transform everyday items, reimagine technology, and uncover resources that embody their micronation’s way of life.
6th floor Sharp
Join Textile Resource Center staff by selecting a book from the shelves to wind a warp around and weave into. The act of weaving around a book will seal it shut till the weaver decides the piece is done and ready to be removed. When you are done weaving, the warp can be cut and the finished piece can be used as a bookmark. No weaving experience needed, instruction and supplies will be provided.
6th floor Sharp
Artist Dano Wall has created a stamp that transforms the $20 from a Jackson, into a Tubman. Harriet Tubman was a “disrupter” who led the underground railroad and dared to think differently about race and gender in the United States. In Wall’s words “…Who we choose to honor as a society affects the moral attitudes that are baked into us as we grow up. The impact that seeing the face of Harriet Tubman staring back at you from a $20 bill should not be underestimated. This sort of representation can subtly but deeply affect someone’s conception of themselves and their place in society. The slightly subversive nature of it being currency that’s been hand-stamped by another human makes a discovery of one of these bills all the more joyous.” Join us in changing the face of history – stop by and stamp your own $20 or use our fake twenties to commemorate Tubman!