CoPI – Collection of Published Information
Edition I: Why's It So Hard?
Jul 24th – Aug 11th, 2023
Caprii, Düsseldorf
We are building a library: a place where knowledge is collected and passed on. The Collection of Published Information is an interactive project, which forms as a recurring pop-up library in the rooms of Caprii in Düsseldorf.
What is a body? How does one capture light? How does a society de-/construct itself? Each edition of the library reinvents itself anew, and collects publications, artists and perspectives. A project never concluded.
The collection shall grow dynamically, inviting visitors—in addition to the research of CoPi—to leave their own suggestions for titles and/or artists that fit the current focus. In this way, perspectives are opened—making the collection of books as diverse as possible. Perhaps this will burst the bubbles in which we move and generate new questions.
Complementary to the library, artworks on the respective subject are exhibited.
Edition I: Why’s It So Hard?
In the first edition of the library, we question: Why’s It so Hard? The title of Madonna's album Erotica confronts us with encounters of physicality and sex, as well as the diversity of their nature. It's a topic that society can't seem to conclude—too intimate, too provocative, and at the same time perhaps one of the most natural and direct.
From body studies to the exploration of sensuality and pleasure, to bodily fluids and the Power of Horror, people and their intimate transgressions are disrupted and reflected in the space of art.
CoPI collects publications on Louise Bourgeois, ORLAN, Sarah Lucas, Tracey Emin, Valie Export, Andy Warhol, Daido Muriyama, Paul McCarthy, Ren Hang, Rebecca Horn, on Shunga, Kristeva's Abject, and many more.
A large table in the middle of the room invites you to read and discover, whilst a computer offers access to the video lounge and online collection catalogue of the Julia Stoschek Foundation—one of the largest private collections of time-based media art worldwide. Here you can browse the wealth of information on works by artists such as Marina Abramović, Monica Bonvicini, Jen DeNike, Barbara Hammer, Pipilotti Rist and Wolfgang Tillmans.
The library exhibits works by Nan Goldin, Talia Chetrit, Marcel Dzama and Thomas Ruff.
What do I have to look like to feel I'm equal Where do I have to go What do I have to join to prove I'm worthy Who do I have to know
from Why's It so Hard, Madonna
