With Selected by.... we offer you a selection of books that our exhibiting artists have picked out. We are delighted to present Liz Larner’s selection with some words from the artist about her choices:
James Hillman, the thought of the heart and the soul of the world, Spring Publications, Thompson, Conn., 1992
‘James Hillman writes about different concepts of the heart in this beautiful little book. He ends up at the Anima Mundi that translates as the return of the soul to the world. This book expresses a vital sensitivity for our times.’
Ariana Reines, Telephone, Wonder, USA, 2018
‘An Obie-winning play by the brilliant poet Ariana Reines about connecting and connections past, present and future. It is just one of her amazing works. Ms. Reines presented Divine Justice a 24-hour durational work at Performance Space in New York on June 12, 2022. She wrote a prose poetry piece, that I cherish, for Don’t Put It Back Like It Was, the accompanying catalog of a Survey of 33 year of artwork presented at the Sculpture Center in NY and on view at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis MN until September 4, 2022.’
Braidotti, Rosi, Posthuman Knowledge, Cambridge UK, Polity Press, 2019
‘Rosi Braidotti, Philosopher and founding director of the Centre for the Humanities in Utrecht and recipient of the Humboldt prize, published Posthuman Knowledge in 2019. This is an indispensable book for coming to terms with changing thought and the challenging shift we are all subject to, whether we want to be or not. Essential reading to begin to comprehend the many challenges and transitions we all face in the 21stCentury.’
Butler, Octavia E., Adulthood Rites, Warner Books NY, 1988
‘Adulthood Rites, published in 1988 is the second book in the Xenogenesis Trilogy by Octavia E. Butler. Butler was a brilliant writer and thinker. This series, like its title, is unlike anything that came before it and allows us to look at ourselves from a viewpoint in the future. I use a quote from it as the title page for the Plastics Book, on view at the desk.’
Campbell, Jane, Traveller in Space, Gender, Identity, and Tibetan Buddhism, Rev. Ed 1996, London Continuum, 2002
‘An important Feminist book that is deeply researched and references many texts that examine a matriarchal past. A fearless book by June Campbell about power, as well as containing a unique examination of why the patriarchy doesn’t work for men.’
Haraway, Donna J, Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene, NC, Duke University Press, 2016
‘This book by Donna Haraway carries the idea of the importance of having the desire to engage with the future we are making or as Haraway calls it the Chtualucene. To do this we ‘require each other in unexpected collaborations and combinations’. These mixed assemblages will be both human and non-human. Read it. Live it.’
Kimmer, Robin Wall, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants, Minneapolis, Milkweed Editions, 2013
‘Robin Wall Kimmerer has written a great book loaded with information about science and indigenous wisdom. A wonderful example of the beauty of mixed assemblages.’
Rawlence, Ben. The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth, St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2022
‘A must read book for anybody wanting to know about the importance of plants and trees in particular, and how the atmosphere that sustains humans and most life on this earth is reliant on them.’