Bookworm Bytes 1: Reflecting on Kruithof’s Book Wall
Welcome to a new week here on DDoA! This week we bring you “BOOKWORM BYTES: Snippets from the Lives of Book Lovers” DDoA has invited 5 bookworms to share their personal experiences in their own words and with their own images.
Today we start off in Amsterdam. Bas Dekker shares with us his reflections on the art of a fellow Dutch – Anouk Kruithof.
Anouk Kruithof’s Art
Text and Photos used with the artist’s permission
In 2008, Dutch artist (& book lover) Anouk Kruithof collected these 3500 coloured books, most of which are from the early 20th century, written in the DDR and are therefore totally dismissed. In Berlin, these books usually end up in 1 euro bookshops or at the ‘Papierbank’- a recycle dump for paper, where they rot away and become meaningless and lost. For her work, “ENCLOSED CONTENT CHATTING AWAY IN THE COLOUR INVISIBILITY” Kruithof made a spatial installation, a video and a single photograph out of these books. She revitalizes these books by using them as objects (bricks). The colours and sizes of these books determine the rhythm of the rising wall in form of a physical installation as well as a video-loop, which is strong and unstable at the same time. The workmanship, various papers, and varying bodies of the books on Kruithof’s wall result in a heterogeneous ensemble. Colored edges glow in diverse hues. Read more…
Learn more about Anouk Kruithof and her art
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin 2009
On every exhibition, Anouk Kruithof’s book wall gets installed in a different order.
Watch Anouk’s book wall fall and rise again:
Lost & Found, ERROR #19 de Studio, Antwerpen 2012
Reflections on Anouk Kruithof’s Book Wall
by Bas Dekker
At some point or another, we may all feel like one of those written off books. When I saw the wall of neatly stacked books I briefly imagined being one of them. Now safely tucked in somewhere in the middle, but only moments earlier my fate could have just as easily been the blazing ovens of an incineration plant or the cold, damp soil of a filthy landfill. Instead, I’m lucky to find myself in that cozy wall together with my paper friends of different hues, playing my part and to support the weight of all the books above me. Even if we were to succumb or lose balance at times, this particular happy wall will be rebuilt over and over again. I will simply reclaim my own space in it and feel at home again, wherever it may be.
Life has new meaning. Contrary to what I was used for in the past, there’s not just one way of looking at things, of becoming. Yes, I am a book, and Anouk has seen my potential even just from a side profile. She has given me a chance to shine alongside other books who were intended to ruin minds. Now together we shall rise, and our natural colors will shine!
Our contributor:
I work as a job-coach and reside near Amsterdam. I enjoy reading writers such as Bill Bryson and Redmond O’Hanlon – plus all other non-fiction roadtrip-style stories. I also love to travel, with Asia as my favorite continent and Thai cuisine at the top of my long list of favorite flavors. Aside from that, I gladly spend all of my spare time cycling the beautifully flat Dutch countryside. My other favourite activities include: long-track ice skating, different forms of art such as urban and landscape photography, as well as painting. – Bas Dekker
So d
o… remember Bas Dekker’s reflection: there’s not just one way of looking at things, of becoming. Believe in second chances and finding new meaning in life.
DAILY DOSE OF ART 
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