The Remote Archivist - Series 04 (Double Issue)

Last April and May, de Appel presented a project by Mariana Lanari: Catching Up in the Archive. In this interactive installation in the exhibition space, just 100 meters from the archive space, the entire archive was displayed horizontally stacked. Without divisions by substantive themes or alphabetically by name. Each book and magazine (16000 pieces) was lovingly handled, looked at and considered to make neat stacks of books that have no made-up connection, except that they come from one collection that presents the history and story of de Appel. The visitors wandered between the stacks, their eyes wandered over the books and they made their own choices and connections, rearranging the stacks over and over. On special tables, Silverfish, the visitors captured the chosen materials and collectively created a digital library at biblio-graph.org. Biblio-graph is a web application for cultural libraries and archives which Lanari developed together with Remco van Bladel, it proposes a way of browsing books and their networks, which otherwise would be hidden behind a search bar. A community-sourced environment for data aggregation, mapping and visualization. The silverfish is now a permanent part of de Appel's archive and everyone is welcome to expand Biblio-graph.

The exhibition Catching Up in the Archive is part of a long-term collaborative project with Mariana Lanari and the de Appel Archive, two years ago she was invited to think along and collaborate with the archivists. With designer Bert Kramer plans and models were made to make the entire archive of de Appel mobile – Spaces-Run-Archive. Making it possible for the Archive to travel places, connect with other archives or collections instead of being a waiting body that stays in the same place and presents itself more or less in the same form. Mariana Lanari's project, Catching Up in the Archive, was a first stress test for Spaces-Run-Archive.

Makers: Mariana Lanari, Remco van Bladel
Schema: Archival Consciousness
Archivist: Nell Donkers
Designer: Bardhi Haliti
Publisher: de Appel, Amsterdam

For information and contact:
archive@deappel.nl
www.deappel.nl

Subscribe to the upcoming series of The Remote Archivist 

The Remote* Archivist is a recurring publication from the Archive of de Appel that can also be accessed while the reader is physically distant, or the archive is far away. The distance, and at the same time the fickle proximity of digital platforms is now translated into the tangibility of archivistic messages.

On one side of the paper, you will find a record from de Appel Archive; be it from years ago or just yesterday; after all, how fast does an event turn into an archival record? Referring to the leaflets of documentation that de Appel sent to its ‘followers’ in the 1970s, The Remote Archivist commemorates the joy of receiving printed matter in the mailbox. The Remote Archivist will keep you informed about what has taken place and what is yet to become history. On the opposite side of the paper, archive visitors are given space to cherish, celebrate and publish their findings. De Appel Archive is kept alive with a gentle touch, ample attention, and remains ready to be rediscovered, time and time again.

*absent, dreamy, far away, remote control, distant