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“Recolecciones” is the Spanish word for “recollections” — as in “memories.”
It also means “harvests” or “gatherings.”
The Latin root “lect-” from which “recolecciones” derives means both “to read” and “to gather.”
The ancient Romans envisioned reading as a process of gathering up scattered bits of information and combining them into meaningful sequences.
Readers are thus gatherers and harvesters.
The library is a place where people come together to recall and reformulate their common heritage, a place for “re-col-lection.”
As part of the City of San José's ongoing commitment to the arts, the San José Public Art Program commissioned artist Mel Chin to create artwork that would be integrated into the new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. The 34 artworks, located throughout the library, are designed to pay homage to the Library's book collections. These sculptural insertions are designed to provoke your interest and curiosity, encouraging exploration and circulation throughout the Library. All of the artworks are sited to surprise you and add to your sense of mystery and wonder. They are site-specific, their adjacency imbuing the piece with additional layers of meaning.
The Recolecciones artworks vary from large, dramatic statements to intimate, subtle insertions that may require numerous visits to discover. The artworks include functional installations such as chairs, tables, and shelves, as well as wall paneling, sculptural ceilings, curious light projections, and more traditional formal sculpture. Some of the concepts are invested with a sense of humor, while others are designed to encourage contemplation.
At the very least, we hope these works delight you!
