The Library Vaccine exhibition reexamines artist books and archival activism at Artists Space

Artists Space in New York presented The Library Vaccine, an exhibition exploring six distinct projects spanning from the late 1950s to the present. The show examined the relationship between art, books, and libraries through various collections and artist books. A central case involved Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell, who in the late 1950s altered book covers in a London library with homoerotic collages, leading to their prosecution and six-month imprisonment. The exhibition featured Helen DeWitt's personal library as an open presentation of her writing practice and Colin de Land's preserved collection reflecting his unconventional approach as a New York gallerist. Curator Edit deAk's 1981 text provided the exhibition's title, describing artist books as 'the library vaccine.' Vigilance, a 1979 project curated by Mike Glier and Lucy Lippard, was re-presented, featuring publications like Suzanne Lacy's Rape Is (1972/76) and advocating for artist books as democratic forms. Other projects included books published by Hansjörg Mayer and a collection assembled by Gregorio Magnani. The exhibition questioned whether activist paradigms have been replaced by archival tendencies, suggesting political aspirations have been subsumed by collecting and knowledge recirculation. It argued that digital collating functions, particularly through social media, reflect this broader cultural shift while demonstrating archival logic's flexibility for personal and artistic expression.