Mary Mattingly’s Ecotopian Library
A publicly accessible collection of materials about ecology created by Mary Mattingly for museums, existing libraries or other institutions. The project is borne out of a belief in the value of art and thought in creating change. Project website.
What is it?
The Ecotopian Library is a public toolkit for imagining and creating more regenerative futures within climate change. People have contributed stories, objects, digital files, experiences, or books that have been broadly organized into the topics of Art, Geography, Ecosophy (ecological philosophy) and the Commons. Since it is place-based and it travels, it combines local tool sets as it moves. Mattingly worked with Sayler/Morris of Toolshed to create a permanent installation of the Ecotopian Library in Hudson, New York at the Hudson Area Library.
What does it do?
Gives people knowledge and tools (both tools of the mind and physical tools) for creating regenerative futures, resilient communities and ecological practices. The Ecoptopian Library stems from the belief that art and ecotopian thought can be part of cultivating systemic social change.
Who is it for?
The Ecotopian Library is place-based and the iteration created with Toolshed is designed for community of the Hudson Valley, New York. The library contains material to engage all ages with variety of entry points ranging from children’s books, natural history, philosophy, visual art, farming and much more. Anyone can access the library during Hudson Area Library open hours, and anyone with a basic Hudson Area Library membership can check out materials. Marry Mattingly also makes information from the Ecotopian Library available to the broader public through her website for the project.
Who worked on it?
Mattingly conceived the Hudson Valley iteration of the library at the invitation of Toolshed and Basilica Hudson, as part of Basilica Hudson’s Hudson as Muse residency program and collaborated with Sayler/Morris for the installation. The Stockbridge Munsee Community of the Mohican Nation and the Thomas Cole National Historical Site contributed additional material. Toolshed will maintain and add to the library. Shanekia MacIntosh is consulting on representing BIPOC perspectives in the collection.
The first iteration of the Ecotopian Library was in 2020 supported by the Colorado University Art Museum (CUAM) through a fellowship and exhibition called Last Library: Reading Rooms, Bridges, and Tools for integrating Ecological Ethics into Practice. In the fall of 2021, the Ecotopian Library will travel to Bozeman, MT with Extraction: Art on the Edge of the Abyss as well as the Museum London (Ontario) with the GardenShip exhibition.
Thanks to the NEA, NYSCA and CREATE for generous funding of the Hudson as Muse residency program.
What specific tools does it employ or create?
Principally, this project leverages the tools of trusted public institutions as spaces where can people can access information, tools and food for thought in a manner that is relatively free of ideology. Local public libraries are particularly effective as a site for the project in this regard. The project also utilizes the tools and language of the archive, but in this case one that is open to shaping from multiple voices and influences. The contents of the Ecotopian Library will change over time.
