Working title of the exhibition: Interpretation of novel Airport by Arthur Hailey.

Author: Alexander Art.

Purpose of the exhibition:

Demonstrate to a wide audience the art project implemented as part of the strategy «Overcome the Gutenberg impasse».

Artist`s statement:

What is a book? Stitched and numbered sheets of text information?

Over the 500 years of the Gutenberg era, we have been imposed that there is no alternative to this concept. But now the Guttenberg era is at an impasse. And the question: what are books has become more relevant than ever.

Currently, there are only two types of interactions between text and image: illustration is an image that is absolutely subordinate to the text, and the format of an art album or comic book, where the text takes the place of the subordinate and explains the meaning of the image.

What if text and visualization (image, sculpture, etc.) become one, complementing each other equally? What if Arthur Haley’s novel Airport is printed on the backs of airport lounge seats?

What if a visitor to this art exhibition physically enteres the installation space of this novel and participates in it? Who will he or she be then? Museum visitor? Reader? The hero of the novel? What if she or he creates own story in this space and publishes it?

The strategy «Overcome the Gutenberg impasse» involves a complete reboot of the relationship between literary text and visualization. It gives an artist and a viewer opportunity to completely immerse themselves in the created artistic space, interact on a new level, and co-create in real time.

The exhibition project Interpretation of novel Airport by Arthur Hailey is the first step towards implementing a strategy «Overcome the Gutenberg impasse».

Description of the exhibition project:

The exhibition space should be 50-80 sq. meters and represent the airport waiting room in miniature. This space should recreate the atmosphere of a typical international airport waiting room of the second half of the twentieth century.

There is a small passenger check-in counter near the entrance to the exhibition. Behind the counter are 2 girls in airport employee uniforms. They hand out booklets to visitors with information about the exhibition and answer visitors’ questions.

Any interested visitor can take part in the exhibition. He or she will be given a ticket, imitation luggage, and the book “Airport” by Haley for the duration of her or his participation in the exhibition. Every visitor will be able to temporarily become a passenger from the novel, communicate with other passengers, and fully experience the atmosphere of presence inside the novel.

There should always be a few actors in the waiting room representing the characters of the novel, periodically speaking texts from the novel.

Fragments of the text from Arthur Haley’s novel Airport will be printed on the backs of chairs in the waiting room.

In the center of the hall there will be an electronic display, where information about flights from Arthur Haley’s novel Airport will be displayed in a crawling line, which will be supplemented by audio playback, as happens at a regular airport.

On the walls of this “waiting room” there will be 10–20 abstract paintings (depending on the exhibition space), reflecting the thoughts and feelings of the characters of novel Airport. The paintings will be supplemented by plaques with fragments of the text of the novel that they represent.

Photo and video recording for visitors is permitted. Each visitor taking part in the exhibition can record his or her story and send it to the exhibition organizers for posting on the exhibition’s social networks. And these photo and video recordings of the exhibition by visitors, their stories will also become part of the exhibition, extending it in time and virtual space.