Shelf Portrait January 6, 2007

SHELF PORTRAIT:
A Disappearing Archive

Robin Pacific


January 6 - 27, 2006

January 6-January 27, 2007
Opening Reception: Saturday, Jan. 6th, 2–5 pm
Shelf Portrait is an exhibition that renders an act of generosity into a work of art. Robin Pacific’s entire archive of 1,670 books, collected over 30 years, will be given away– free – to all who attend the Shelf Portrait exhibition at the Red Head Gallery from Saturday January 6 through Saturday January 27, 2007. Books read 30 years ago, books read last week, books read and re-read, books never read – Art, Fiction, Poetry, Cultural Theory, Memoirs, Biographies, Autobiographies, Essays, Letters, Philosophy, Psychology, Travel, Gardening. Each book has been catalogued and inserted with a bookplate: "This book is a gift to you from Robin Pacific." In exchange for signing their name beside the title of the books on catalogues hung on the wall, visitors can take the books home with them immediately. Shopping bags will be provided.

Robin Pacific says, "My books are a portrait of an artist’s psyche. When I pick one up at random, a whole period of my life comes rushing back, people, places, what I was doing, who I was at that particular point of my past. Giving them away is a means of putting my consciousness out into the world, and isn’t that what all artists do, regardless of the medium?"

The signed catalogue sheets will be the trace, the record, and the remains of the collection. Disposable cameras will be available for people to photograph the "disappearing archive" and themselves, thus documenting the show as it disperses.

Robin Pacific is a multidisciplinary artist whose work encompasses installation, painting, performance and community based projects. While mainly working outside traditional art settings, she has had shows at and done projects for the Art Gallery of Ontario, The Art Gallery of Hamilton, The Visual Art Centre of Clarington and the Red Head Gallery. She is a co-founder of Art Starts Neighbourhood Cultural Centre.

Official Website: http://www.redheadgallery.org/