HYLAND
Corbusier, Abstract Expressionism, Max Ernst Collages,
Arte Pop and Christo, Surrounded Islands.
Writes Benjamin: "[T]he phenomenon of collecting loses its
meaning as it loses its personal owner. Even though public
collections may be less objectionable
socially…than private collections, the
objects get their due only in the latter.
I do know that time is running out for
the type that I am discussing here
…Only in extinction is the collector
comprehended." The page of the
magazine you are reading is not
paper, but so many lit up pixels on a
virtual page; the readers I see on the
subway are more often absorbed in a
Nook or iPad than a "real" book.
But paper and print have an eternal
appeal; it is fun to collect things
and to display one's bibliography,
one's intellectual pedigree, in solid,
comforting, friendly form. I do not fault
my friend from Cooper Union or myself
for displaying or carrying a book (as
yet) unread. Our desires precede our
labors and only now that my library is
gone am I getting down to the work of reading. Airan Kang
reminds us that books are palpable, material, mysterious
