The Library Is A Growing Organism

An Interactive Audio Installation in NYU Libraries

Created by Amanda Belantara & A.M. Alpin, Rule N° 5 is a collaboratively-created work that centers the voices of library workers as they reveal to listeners the magical, mysterious, complicated, and controversial world of libraries. Through one large and five smaller interactive sculptures installed in NYU Libraries, Rule N° 5 examines practices and objects that shape how we can search, who we will find, and what we remember.

As an interactive audio experience, listeners are invited to open doors and drawers, plug in, and push buttons to explore and contemplate what it means to collect the world’s knowledge, preserve the past, and shape the future.

A user holds an earpiece and stethoscope-like object along the "Secrets" sculpture.
A hand turns a knob on "Radio."
A hand pulls a slide into view on "Impermanence."
A hand scrolls through card catalog cards on "Cataloging & Classifying."
A hand attaches cables to listen to audio on "Curating & Collecting."
A user peers through the card catalog cards on "Cataloging & Classifying."
A user stares into the cosmos-like light effect of "Infinity."
A user stands in front of the lit doorway of "Infinity."
A user, wearing headphones, sees her reflection in the lights of "Infinity."