Ann Shelton: A LIBRARY TO SCALE

Ann Shelton’s photographic installation a library to scale examines the scrapbook collection of Taranaki bibliophile,Frederick B. Butler. Gleaned by Shelton from the archive now held at Puke Ariki during an Artist Residency with Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in 2004, this series of work investigates narratives relating to place and the desire to catalogue our surrounds.

In a reworking of her signature double imagery, a library to scale recreates the experience of an encounter with the 3,500 scrapbooks in Butler’s unique and compelling collection. Slipping between the personal and the orthodox, the systematic and idiosyncratic, Butler’s archive includes titles such as Oil, Crime, War, Needlepoint, The Radiant Living Society, Raffle Tickets, and Maori Pa’s in the City Area. Printed to scale and installed in stacks, Shelton’s images impart a sense of the subjects covered in the library as we peruse its shelves and the spines of its many and variously wallpapered volumes.

From 28 July to 12 August a selection of rugs and quilts made by Frederick B. Butler will also be on display at Puke Ariki in New Plymouth.

Ann Shelton: A LIBRARY TO SCALE