Project Overview
Explicitus est Liber | Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
“The installation, whose title translates to ‘the book is open’ is meant to represent the threshold of knowledge that the public crosses as they enter the library. ”
Artists Brad Goldberg and Garrison Roots collaborated to create their entry plaza installation at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library titled Explicitus est Liber. The installation, whose title translates to "the book is open" is meant to represent the threshold of knowledge that the public crosses as they enter the library. The piece is inscribed with imagery from various disciplines of knowledge and education.
Any library is a repository of recorded history, culture, and human endeavor, representing the sheer tenacity and intellectual curiosity of the human spirit. In this piece titled Explicitus est Liber, granite paving scrolls, reminiscent of ancient cylinder seals or roller stamps, are imprinted with text and images which unfurl across the entrance plaza. The scrolls are seen as a metaphor for the acquisition of knowledge and learning. A visually informative and functional environment results in an interactive passage. It is an invitation to the child, the student, the scholar, the teacher, the patron of learning, the bookworm, the professional, and the academician to explore the library.
About the Artists
Brad Goldberg
Dallas, TX artist Brad Goldberg sees his work as a fusion between sculpture, landscape, and built environment. He sees sculptures not as isolated objects, but rather as spirit-creating components of larger spatial experiences. The desire to work with the environment as a whole allows the creation of a unique non-preconceived response to the total aspect of a place.
Goldberg has worked collaboratively with artists, design professionals, civic leaders, and communities. Whether working with architects and engineers, craftsmen, and contractors or fabricating his own work, Goldberg is experienced in dealing with the realities of creating artwork within a complex environment. “In time,” he states, “with many experiences layered over one another, I am hoping my work will reflect a cultural collage more in keeping with artistic truths than passing fashions.”
He has worked throughout the United States as well as in France, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Japan.
Garrison Roots
Garrison Roots was an installation artist who created site-specific environments that encompass the viewer, making them a participant in the work. Roots was a founding member of Artnauts, a Colorado artist collective that promoted visual dialogue between economically diverse artists around the world. He has exhibited his work nationally and internationally since the 1980s, including projects in Chile, China, Mexico, Peru, Palestine, Russia, and Spain and was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts individual artist fellowships. He received his Masters of Fine Arts from Washington University in Saint Louis, MO. Along with completing several major public art commissions, Roots was a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO.
Roots passed away in 2011. His visionary mindset will be greatly missed.
