Commissioned by Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL) and Creative Scotland, The Blue Spine Collection built on GWL as a base from which to reach out to women, both locally and nationally, in order to make a temporary collection connecting as many lives as possible through the artwork. The Collection was exhibited in the Jeffrey Room of the Mitchell Library in June 2010 and involved a gathering of the 100’s of contributors and participants of the artwork.
The 520 blue books contained within the artwork were collected over an eight-month period and were returned following the exhibition with a limited edition bookmark registering the books place in the collection and a copy of The Blue Spine booklist.
An interview with the artist about The Blue Spine Collection was aired on The Book Café, BBC Radio Scotland.
The project also included a symposium called Making Space: Towards a New Public Artwork, at The Mitchell Library on 3rd Feb. 2011 at which I gave a keynote artist presentation.
This symposium was the culmination of Phase One of the Making Space project. and brought together a group of people to discuss issues surrounding public art, public recognition of women in Scotland, and the aims and outcomes of the Making Space project. This group included GWL staff, volunteers and learners; artists, researchers, and people who work within the arts in Scotland.