UNBOUND
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Inviting viewers to peep into their city’s own ‘secret library,’ UNBOUND moves across boundaries of public and private while examining the library as a place that simultaneously binds information -- collecting, curating and keeping it safe -- and unbinds it, by releasing it to the community. UNBOUND’s library of ephemera (photos, letters, recipes, ads, schoolwork and more) is sourced from the community's personal archives, comprising nearly 10,000 media clips submitted by private citizens. The artwork uses custom software and algorithms to display ever-changing combinations of media while drawing viewers in to explore its Braille-based matrix of glowing, tactile lenses. The lenses function as peepholes, inviting close-up investigation as they reveal and magnify the images within. The artwork’s multi-layered glass surfaces are etched with coded systems (morse code, shorthand, binary code) which, like the Braille pattern of the lenses themselves, reveals hidden messages to those curious enough to decipher them.