Mitchell Library Reading Room looking north and south, 2015
Charcoal,
graphite and watercolour on machine made paper
PXD
1402 items 4 & 5
As
artist in residence at the Library, Bokor had access to the upper levels of the
reading room. He was asked to work in dry media such as pencil, charcoal, pastel
or oil crayons to avoid spills or fumes from solvents.
While
John went almost unnoticed, little that went on below went unobserved by him … He
watched and drew as people read and researched, daydreamed, chatted, dozed off,
or flirted.
A much loved public building
By Louise Anemaat, 2015
Drawing the Library is about documenting
artistic responses to the Library as a cross-generational and cross-cultural
space, as a meeting place and centre for learning and social interaction. The
Mitchell Library exudes a feeling of permanence, of an unchanging piece of
Sydney, but it is actually constantly changing to meet the new needs of
researchers and visitors to the Library, and the latest possibilities of
information technology. John’s residency captured the Library at a particular
point in time. He has recorded intimate moments, tiny vignettes that seem
ordinary yet also intrigue and compel, small compositions in reading rooms and
workspaces that show how people continue to use and interact with a much loved
public building.
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