Article written by Rory Hawkins.
A library is a place of more than just books. Sure, it’s the first thing to jump to mind, but for a long time we’ve turned libraries into so much more. I think the State Library, for example, is one of the most important yet understated cultural points in Brisbane.
It’s less like the City Council Libraries that (I hope) you’ve visited at least once – more this archival block of concrete, glass and cream waiting-room-esque spaces (take a seat, the librarian will see you now). Sure, resources are available in the much same way. You can still bring the kids along in some part, take a book out for pure pleasure. For a building so modern-looking, to me, its main purpose is holding a seemingly endless catalogue of world and Queensland history. And yes, it’s mostly in books.
That’s actually what I was expecting when I went to see Lifestyle: a sunshine state of mind – an exhibition running until October 21st. The advertisement beams down at you in every jacaranda shade of purple. Even walking in, you have to pass through this impossibly purple anteroom. Go at the right time and you’ll have it almost entirely to yourself.
The State Library site describes the exhibition as a look into how “our quest for understanding and connection is constant and varied. Lifestyle explores how Queenslanders live and play across the state. Showcasing a range of State Library of Queensland’s rare and restricted collection items, this hands-on exhibition explores the myriad of ideas and identities that are quintessentially Queensland.”
So, no… like I said before, not just books. From wall to wall, you’re guided by the words and faces of current Queensland artistic personalities: advocates for the culture Brisbane has built and is continuing to build. Dated pop-art and early colonial artifacts sit next to one another in relative ease. Interactivity fosters an odd kind of identity with anyone who took the time to find this place, too.
And my personal quest was not entirely in vain! eBook versions of 1820s diary entries explore what life was like for European settlers trying to eke out a life in the Brisbane area. All the way at the back, in its own glass-box nook, literature handpicked to explore the problems we now find on the way to fulfillment. Spend some time, flick through some genuinely interesting non-fic titles.
But that’s just it – all the way at the back. This is the Literature department. I went in search of just that and found little. It’s no major criticism of Lifestyle itself; the team putting it together clearly did an excellent job in creating something engaging, with as many different media as possible. This room is an afterthought. Books just don’t fit.
Exhibitions or events that are purely literature – without many (if any) people doing live readings – just do not work. I love reading and writing to death, but if there’s one thing they fail in doing, it’s engaging a larger audience in real time.
Reading takes personal time and space to really tap into. Immersing yourself is immersing only yourself. It’s never an activity you can do as a group and still enjoy it the same. We’ve all had to do class readings of 1984 or Brave New World – I love books but class readings kill it so fast.
At most, sharing what you’ve read is nattering on immediately after with a friend about how the story swept you up. To me, fangirling over what you enjoyed most is the closest thing a book has to going to a movie with that same friend. It’s an enthusiasm that’s personal to you – what you picked up and felt whilst reading – and it dies down as you move to the next novel.
But just because writing can’t be shared as well in the same spaces as other arts doesn’t lessen the impact it can have. If anything, it means artist-to-audience platforms have to work a specific way, demanding less on showing what’s made than how it is. YouTube’s full of interviews with popular authors explaining their methodology, taking tours 'round bespoke writing “getaways.”
At live events, it’s less about authors showcasing work than personality. Everyone there’s already read what they’ve done cover to cover – seeing the face behind the work is something more.
The downside to these is that without creative organisation, live events can fall into that generic kind of seminars or lectures. I’m a student – these get boring after a while. Tapping into that shared enthusiasm needs to be done, or else your audience won’t be engaged.
Lifestyle: a sunshine state of mind is an interesting, reflective exhibition that splashes all kinds of Brisbane culture across every surface. Where it’s interactive, it’s thoughtful – but for an exhibition held in a library, literature involvement is lacking in that same thought. This doesn’t take anything away from the experience in any other part, but personally I would’ve liked to see more.
This is no fault of the people who organised Lifestyle itself. It just shows how, in being different, books and literature are an odd thing to bring to life on their own.
Running until October 21st, I’d recommend anyone down the way of the museum, GOMA or SLQ itself to take a little time out of their day to check out Lifestyle and take a fresh perspective on what makes their life fulfilling.
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