April 1, 2015

Argentinian artist builds a “weapon of mass instruction”

by

Argentinian artist Raul Lemesoff and his traveling library appear in a video that is part of a 7UP #feelsgoodtobeyou campaign. The video shows Lemesoff in Buenos Aires creating something he calls a “weapon of mass instruction”—a 1979 Ford Falcon fitted with shelves to hold about 900 books. According to a comment on a DesignBoom post featuring the video, the “sculpture” also has political significance because the “green ford falcon (1979) was the vehicle most used by paramilitary [members] of the genocidal dictatorship in Argentina [from] 1976 to 1982.”

“My missions are very dangerous,” Lemesoff says in the video. “I attack people in a very nice and fun way… Humanity has perpetrated knowledge in books and I think they should get around more… My primary target is the youngest—the kids.” Lemesoff travels around the country in the tank to distribute free books to people of all ages in schools, community center, on buses, and in the streets.

Claire Kelley is the Director of Library and Academic Marketing at Melville House.

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