Last night I attended the Open Shelf Book Club at the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver. Each artist whose work is being exhibited curates a shelf in the library where they place books/media/objects that have inspired or influenced them. Kim Dickey discussed the books and films on her shelf and spoke about the book she had selected for the group to read. It is Six Memos for the Next Millenium by Italo Calvino. I'm looking forward to reading it -- a series of lectures that Calvino was preparing to deliver at Harvard, but never did, due to his untimely death. The memos cover the values of Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility, and Multiplicity. The last lecture does not exist, but was to be on Consistency.
The conversation really made me think about what would be on my shelf, were I to have one! What influences do I hold most dear? What items would allow others some insight into my work... an interesting idea to ponder.