Brad Borevitz created this neat little program to analyze the State of the Union addresses given by US Presidents from 1790 to 2006:
SOTU allows you to explore how specific words gain and lose prominence over time, and to link to information on the historical context for their use. SOTU focuses on the relationship between individual addresses as compared to the entire collection of addresses, highlighting what is different about the selected document. You are invited to try and understand from this information the connection between politics and language–between the state we are in, and the language which names it and calls it into being.
For each State of the Union Address, the analyzer also measures the Flesch-Kincaid score, a controversial yet popular readibility index to suggest at which grade level in an American school for which the text is appropriate. The lowest score (grade level 7.1) was George W. Bush's State of the Union address on February 27, 2001.
Hundreds of books get destroyed and shredded for recycling on a daily basis. When a locally owned bookstore goes out of business, what do you suppose happens to the inventory of books that don't get sold?
Yes, some might get donated to worth causes, but a large number of them go to facilities where they are sorted and shredded so that the paper can be recycled.
Perhaps some of those books that were destined to be destroyed made there way into this sculpture instead.
I do wonder, as others have, however, what happens when the books get wet.
It does look very cool but I wonder about practical things like what happens to this when it rains? Do all those books get soaking wet? Has the extra weight been calculated into the structural design? Who cleans it up when the books are all sodden?
The good thing about conceptual art is that the "artist" need not master any artistic skill. Just scale up everyday objects or move them to novel environments. Yawn!
Comments (1)
Yes, some might get donated to worth causes, but a large number of them go to facilities where they are sorted and shredded so that the paper can be recycled.
Perhaps some of those books that were destined to be destroyed made there way into this sculpture instead.
I do wonder, as others have, however, what happens when the books get wet.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150253603399618&set=a.211168469617.124260.613474617&type=3&theater
in the rain
Well she thought of it first.
Yawn!