We love it when members of our community bring artists whose work is library-incubated to our attention. Without Shawn Calhoun (@shawncalhoun), it would have taken us a lot longer to find the beautiful work by Norwegian photographer + installation artist, Rune Guneriussen. We are so pleased to bring you this interview about Rune’s work, and the role of libraries in his life and career. Enjoy! ~ Laura

Can you speak a bit about your relationship to libraries, and what they have meant to you during your creative career?

Libraries have been very important for me. In primary school it was a great part of my life. We didn’t have so many books at home so going to the library was like a fountain of knowledge and fun. I spent a lot of time there, and was focused on nature and natural science in the beginning.

Later in my childhood I also dived into a second path, and that was the books on photography. When I was 10 I had read, and memorized, every book on photography. So I already knew about apertures, shutters, depth of field, lenses, darkrooms and all of this before getting my first camera. Still this wasn’t influencing me in a creative way.

My next wow-experience came with the library at university when I studied in England. I was overwhelmed by the literature available on photography and the arts. I will say that this library saved my education for being a total waste. This was a way of using the library in a more selective way. Not dependent of which studies I did, and not according to what tutors and fellow students meant was right.

Can you expand on your comment regarding the “sharing of ideas” – the interplay between books, libraries, the natural world, and artistic presentation?

For me the books are a definitive symbol of the accumulated source of knowledge passed on from generation to generation through centuries. Even the stone tablets are evidence of this. The words play the same part, but it is the way of reading them or passing them on that changes.

In today’s society words are in abundance in every form, and it’s not so much about survival as it is about being entertained. This means that knowledge crucial for our survival is being hidden and forgotten and traded in for something more popular. It is important to consider that a lot of the experience mankind has acquired should be considered common knowledge for everyone. But who chooses what is important?

I believe strongly that the book in itself still is the most trustworthy source of knowledge. This is mainly because it is so straight to the point, and triggers a more reflected and concentrated way of getting information and knowledge. Other medias often are more of a distraction.

As an artist, what would your ideal library look or be like?

When libraries are built now it is sure that they have changed the appearance and function [compared with libraries from the past]. But the need for [the library] to be a place for inspiration, and in a more alternative way than the more commercial venues, is still there.

Being something that people need, but didn’t know they needed.

And of course it needs to include the medias we already use. Libraries also should function as a social meeting place. A place for discussions, debates and opinion making. After all the content of a library gives fuel to this kind of thinking. And what it should look like? It should be a place where you get input also from the arts, and the art should be highly visible within a structure stimulating creativity and free thinking.

Rune Guneriussen is a Norwegian artist who was educated at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design in England. Rune Guneriussen, born 1977, in Norway. Education from Surrey Institute of Art & Design in England. Rune works in the transition between installation and photography. As a conceptual artist he works site specific, primarily in nature. Read more and view Rune’s work at his website