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Scanner by Matej KrenWe've covered <a title="Matej Kren" href="http://www.matejkren.cz/en/index.php">Matej Kren's</a> amazing feats of <a title="Book Cell" href="http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/02/24/book-cell-an-octagonal-building-made-entirely-from-books/">book-stacking before</a>, but his 'Scanner' installation may be one of the most magnificent. Installed at the <a title="MAMbo" href="http://www.mambo-bologna.org/en/mostre/mostra-37/">Museum of Modern Art in Bologna (MAMbo)</a> in Italy, the piece is a gigantic tunnel of books that is meant to inspire reflection, impose greatness, and confuse perspective. Decked out with mirrors and thousands of books, "Scanner" is a new read on how we experience place.1
Scanner by Matej KrenSome of us may have been raised to treat books like books and only books, but Kren manages to inspire literary reverence by using books as building materials. However intellectually metaphorical that may sound, it's a physical truth.2
Scanner by Matej KrenKren created "Scanner" specifically for MAMbo in collaboration with the <a title="Lit centrum" href="http://www.litcentrum.sk/en/">Slovakian Centre for Information on Literature</a>.3
Scanner by Matej KrenAccording to MAMbo, "The narrow inside space, multiplied and complicated by mirrors, evoke a sensation of sublime terror, an alteration referring to a puzzling infinity itself created to destabilize conventional spatial habits."4
Scanner by Matej KrenMirrors become an instrument to create illusion and, at the same time, to unmask it.5
Scanner by Matej KrenSince the public can easily see themselves reflected in a false infinite – thus discovering the illusion – the problem becomes the latency of perception.6
Scanner by Matej KrenMatej Kren uses books as raw materials for an artistic process existing and communicating on many distinct levels.7
Scanner by Matej KrenA look inside the dazzling illuminated interior of Kren's "Scanner" installation.8
Scanner by Matej KrenMirrors and multi-colored lights are used to confuse perspective within the book-built structure.9
Scanner by Matej KrenThe installation is the seminal event of a local children's book fair.10
Scanner by Matej Kren<big><a title="Matej Kren" href="http://www.matejkren.cz/en/tele-well/">+ Matej Kren</a> <a title="MAMbo" href="http://www.mambo-bologna.org/en/mostre/mostra-37/">+ MAMbo</a></big>11
