In a special bonus episode of The Unquiet Library: 50 Years of Robarts Library, host Jesse Carliner speaks with artist and filmmaker Eva Kolcze and artist, educator, and curator Jess Thalmann about Robarts as artistic inspiration. Both describe creative projects shaped by Brutalist architecture, including Thalmann’s “Toronto is brutal” tote bag and photographs of Robarts’s exterior lines, coffered ceilings, and lighting, and Kolcze’s 2014 experimental 16mm film All That Is Solid, which uses decay techniques to make concrete feel tactile and vulnerable. Their first encounters with Robarts lead into personal stories of memory, loss, protest, and healing, and they discuss how renovations like added lighting and Robarts Common soften the building’s perceived dehumanizing scale. They consider Robarts as landmark, symbol, friend, and wound, and imagine its future as a continually debated, enduring civic presence.
All That Is Solid, a film by Eva Kolcze
To learn more about the work of Eva Kolcze visit her website at https://www.evakolcze.com/
To learn more about the work of Jess Thalmann visit her website at https://www.jessicathalmann.com/
To learn more about Jess's uncle, Professor Phoivos Ziogas: https://ieeecanada.org/biography-of-phoivos-ziogas/
And the shooting at Concordia, see:
https://www.concordia.ca/offices/archives/stories/fabrikant.html
For more on Robarts’ history, visit uoft.me/robarts50 and follow @unquietlibrary on Instagram, Blue Sky, and TikTok.
00:00 Episode Introduction
01:05 Artist Introductions
03:06 Jess and her professional and creative activities involving Robarts
05:24 Eva and her professional and creative activities involving Robarts Library
10:52 Jess's personal connection to Robarts Library
18:45 Eva's first encounter with Robarts Library
23:30 Robarts as a wound
27:22 Robarts as a landmark or.....
29:51 Robarts and light
33:40 About the Robarts Common
36:10 The future of Robarts
40:12 Episode Conclusion
Theme music:
Felipe Sarro, Bach-Siloti - Prelude BWV 855a
Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
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