Writers and poets Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian with artist Josh Greene in The Library of Particular Significance. Photo by Gravity Goldberg.
Artist Josh Greene's two-part exhibition Bound to Be Held: A Book Show celebrates the relationship between a reader and a book. One part of the exhibition, The Library of Particular Significance, focuses on instigating social interaction by recasting the gallery as a lending-library of donated "significant" books—a space for dwelling, reading, and connecting.
A series of related public programs called In The Library of Particular Significance enlivened the space with read-ins, book discussions, and literary happenings led by special guests. In the previous installment, writers and poets Kevin Killian and Dodie Bellamy collaboratively covered a lot of bookish ground: on books they first read and bought, on writers they met, on books (and book deals) that got away, and more. Below, Killian answers a few more of our bookish questions—divulging his favorite reading spot, his book fetish, and how much time he spends on Facebook.
I work for a janitorial company.
The catalogue raisonne of artist John Currin, signed by him with an inscription to my wife.
I have a fetish for autographed books, or books given me by the dead loved ones I have known, beginning with my late mother and father.
I am reading fewer books than I once did, due to having to spend so much time liking people Facebook status updates. Maybe that's just me, but this weakness is shared by at least a few other friends I know.
When I'm giving a reading there's no place like the upstairs poetry room at City Lights Books in San Francisco.
I am reading a beautiful book of poetry, HOUSES by Nikki Wallschlager (Horse Less Press).
Writers and poets Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian with artist Josh Greene in The Library of Particular Significance. Photo by Gravity Goldberg.
Consisting of approximately one thousand books donated by the general public, together with statements about the donors’ relationship to a specific book, The Library of Particular Significance is part of Bound to be Held: A Book Show, a solo exhibition of the work of San Francisco-based conceptual artist Josh Greene that celebrates the relationship between a reader and a book. Visitors can browse the shelves, which Greene periodically rearranges at whim by such organizing principles as donors’ zodiac signs, or consult a special card catalog with further information. The Library of Particular Significance functioned as a lending library, so visitors could temporarily check out books. A variety of reading events took place inThe Library during the run of the exhibition.
One of the original “New Narrative” writers of the 1980s, Kevin Killian lives and works in San Francisco. Recent books include an edition of Jack Spicer’s Collected Poems, a book of stories from City Lights Books (Impossible Princess), and a second volume of his Selected Amazon Reviews. 2013 brought a new novel (Spreadeagle) from Publication Studio, and a book of intimate photographs of poets, musicians, artists and filmmakers, called Tagged. His poems, many of which deal with the AIDS epidemic, its aftermath and its desolation, are gathered in three volumes, Argento Series, Action Kylie, and Tweaky Village.
Header image: Installation view of The Library of Particular Significance within the exhibition Bound to Be Held: A Book Show. Installation photo by Johnna Arnold.