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El Iceberg Imaginario

We’d rather have the iceberg than the ship
Elizabeth Bishop, “The Imaginary Iceberg”

El librero “El iceberg imaginario” basa su forma en la silueta del poema del mismo nombre de la poetisa norteamericana Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979). A través de un proceso simple de relación entre formas bidimensionales y tridimensionales, que se multiplican basadas en un prototipo, el “texto” se divide, conecta y refleja consigo mismo para crear una serie de espacios vacíos y recovecos en donde azarosamente se acomodan los libros del acervo, los que al no tener un lugar fijo transformarán constantemente la escultura al ser utilizados por los lectores.

Dice Bishop en su poema, que preferiríamos “tener el iceberg antes que el barco, aunque significase el fin del viaje”, de la misma manera libro y escultura parecen negarse entre ellos mismos – como iceberg y barco– y que cuando aparece uno desaparece el otro. ¿Hasta dónde se puede expandir la funcionalidad de un objeto? ¿Puede un poema convertirse en librero?

Jorge Méndez Blake

The Imaginary Iceberg

We’d rather have the iceberg than the ship
Elizabeth Bishop, “The Imaginary Iceberg”

 The bookcase “The Imaginary Iceberg” is based on the shape of the poem of the same name by the American poet Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979). Through a simple process of relationship between two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms, which multiply based on a prototype, the “text” divides, connects and reflects with itself to create a series of empty spaces and nooks and crannies where books are randomly arranged. As the collection does not have a fixed place, it will constantly transform the sculpture when books are used by readers. 

In her poem, Bishop says we would rather “have the iceberg than the ship, even if it meant the end of the voyage”, in the same way book and sculpture seem to deny each-other, like iceberg and ship. When one appears, the other disappears. How far can the functionality of an object be expanded?  Can a poem become a bookshelf?

Jorge Méndez Blake