Kindness Encyclopedias
Free Library of Philadelphia & Cherry Street Pier, Philadelphia | 2024
Twelve retitled encyclopedias with twelve unique dining room chairs.
Since 2024, the Kindness Encyclopedias have been installed at the Center City and South Philly branches of Free Library of Philadelphia and at Cherry Street Pier.
Twelve retitled and repurposed encyclopedias are surrounded by 12 unique chairs and displayed with a note that invites visitors to sit, rest, and spend time in the circle, as well as write, draw or color in the volumes. The original encyclopedias were collected from an area donation box. The blue color and stripes on the encyclopedias provide a sense of primary education. The furnishings were painted to match and create a pseudo-scholastic environment. Each chair is different but painted the same blue; they serve as a reminder of our similarities and differences. The encyclopedias were retitled with words related to expressions of kindness — “Kindness”, “Awe”, “Compassion”, ”Generosity”, “Grace”, “Gratitude”, “Inherent Good”, “Joy”, “Love”, “Peace”, “Trust” and “Understanding” and serving as prompts for writing notes, drawing pictures and dwelling on positive action. The book’s contain biographies artists and authors for young people, with the invitation to draw, doodle, color, scribble on top of these pages with the colored pencils an manual pencil sharpener provided.
The use of twelve encyclopedias and twelve chairs is a reflection of the many cycles around us and the cosmic order. There are 12 zodiac signs, 12 months and 12 hours of day and night. The repetition of the number 12 in recognized cycles begs the question ~ does this pattern come from humans or is there something about the sequence inherent to nature.
This installation seeks deeper consideration of what we teach, what we choose to record and how we hand down important knowledge to future generations. It’s an invitation to come together again to learn, not about the reading, writing and arithmetic, but about extending kindness to others to form a stronger and more empathic society. It’s an acknowledgment that we all have more to learn.
“Let me be clear - artists should not just be utilized for beautification. Artists should be utilized as problem solvers, woven into every aspect of our lives from politics to business, religion to social services, law enforcement to the military. There should be an artist on every board, in every city hall, and on every investment team. Indeed, we need such creatives and the diversity of thought they bring to the table.”
- Darryl Ratcliff
As a society we have been grappling with problems from many siloed view points, and there is an active shift to include artists at the table to bring both creative energies to both the facilitation as well as the collaboration. Additionally, artists are becoming the drivers of numerous projects, not with the goal of creating art, but with the goal of bringing issues to light, and discussion with the goal of problem solving, community healing and growth.
In Kindness Encyclopedias, retitled encyclopedias are staged in a public setting with an invitation for visitors to engage ideas.
