09 Ester Malzahn -- The Well - IMG_2506

The Well, 2013

Location: Stanley A. Milner Library (interior, walk past the customer service desk on main floor to the south wall of the library)


When University of Alberta sculpture students were challenged to work with 100,000 discarded books from libraries across western Canada, they created an art exhibition called “The Book as Weapon of Change.” Through this 2013 exhibition, the students pondered how books that once earned so much respect could no longer defend the space that they take up on library shelves.

Now located along the south interior wall of the Stanley A. Milner (downtown) library, The Well is a vertical column of discarded books. Tapering as the books descend to the floor, it is as if a well shaft has been filled with books, now standing alone in a space dedicated to the written word.

Source: Curious Arts

Photo Credit: Ester Malzahn