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Marta Minujin Builds a Spiraling Tower Made from Thousands of Books in Buenos Aires
General view of a 'Babel Tower' made
with books by Argentinian artist Marta Minujin (Not pictured) at a
square of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The work, made out of 30,000 books,
was inaugurated to celebrate the appointment of Buenos Aires as 'World
Book Capital 2011' by Unesco. EPA/CEZARO DE LUCA.
By: Luis Andres Henao - via Art Daily |
Bookish Buenos Aires gets own Tower of Babel
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Artist Marta Minujín stands
in front of the Tower of Babel
built with books. |
(Buenos Aires Herald) A spiralling tower made from
thousands of books in dozens of languages is the latest landmark to dot
the skyline of Buenos Aires, named the World Book Capital this year.
Called the Tower of Babel, the 82-foot (25-metre) high installation
by Argentine artist Marta Minujín is made from 30,000 bricks, donated by
readers, libraries and more than 50 embassies.
Climbing up its seven floors of metal scaffolding, visitors to the
tower hear music composed by Minujín and the voice of the artist
repeating the word 'book' in scores of languages.
On the walls, Japanese children's books are packed next to adventure
tales from Patagonia or a Basque translation of Argentina's epic cowboy
poem Martin Fierro.
"Building this tower has been a miraculous experience," Minujín told
the press, standing before the structure as curious passersby gazed on
in a downtown city square.
"A hundred years from now, people will say 'there was a Tower of
Babel in Argentina ... and it didn't need translation because art needs
no translation.'"
Minujín, who worked with US artist Andy Warhol, built a full-scale
model of the Parthenon in Buenos Aires in 1983 using books banned by the
military dictatorship that ended that year.
This year's installation marks Buenos Aires' naming as the 2011 World
Book Capital by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
"We've been laying books for 10 days straight," Sebastián Atienza,
26, who works for the company that built the tower under Minujín's
supervision. "But it's worth it. It's where all languages come
together."
When the exhibit ends later this month, Minujín said literature lovers will be allowed to come and pick one book each.
The rest will be brought down to start a new archive that she has
already been dubbed The Library of Babel, the name of a story by
Argentina's most famous author, Jorge Luis Borges.
