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| Rudolf von Alt Library in the Apartment of Count Lanckoronski in Vienna 1881 watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
the library of t-shirts
in order to upgrade the community's appreciation of poetry during the international year of cultural enrichment stage 2, members of the state's library progress committee decided to establish a small library of t-shirts on which would be printed quality verse in bold colours and lettering. the poems would be selected on the basis of one of three qualities: is the poem poignant, perspicacious, or pithy.
given the respectably researched fact that the wearing of words on t-shirts expresses a deep psychic desire for an intimate union of word and flesh, (and bear in mind the way "logo" nudges towards "logos") it is not surprising that this library of t-shirts has been a great success. no one seems to mind borrowing pre-worn clothing. of course the library's washing and ironing staff maintain the t-shirts in excellent condition. even after ten borrowings the shirts look brand new. and considering the phenomenal success of andrew lloyd webber's "cats" it is no shock revelation that t.s. eliot's "hollow men" has proved to be the library's most popular t-shirt so far. in fact there are now eight copies of this shirt on loan, most in metallic or fluoro colours.
a couple of the more entrepreneurial of the library's progress committee members are leading the push for diversification of the library's poetry program, into neck to knee anti-uv swimwear, with maybe slessor, shelly and stevie smith prints for starters; and into underpants, with their multiple attractions.
while the committee feels both these garments could increase poetry's appeal, they are worried about the practicability of adding these garments to the t-shirt poetry collection. would many members want to borrow pre-worn underpants, however compelling the poems' cadences and metaphors; while the wear and tear on the swimming costume fabric via chlorine and salt water would perhaps be too great. however they are interested in marketing and selling these articles from a stall in the library's foyer. the only committee member unenthusiastic regarding this proposal is an optometrist who has raised the issue of eye damage if the typeface of the lines of verse on the underpants were too small. a solution in the form of large print haikus is being considered.
– Joanne Burns from penelope's knees (University of Queensland Press, 1996)
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| George Pyne George James Drummond's Room at Oxford 1853 watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Wilhelm Amadeus Beer Sitting Room with Writing Table 1867 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Friedrich Wilhelm Klose Room in Schloss Buchwald ca. 1840-45 watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Friedrich Wilhelm Klose Red Room in Schloss Fischbach ca. 1846 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Friedrich Wilhelm Klose Blue Room in Schloss Fischbach 1846 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Eduard Petrovich Hau Empress Alexandra Feodorovna's Sitting Room, Cottage Palace, Saint Petersburg ca. 1835 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Anonymous Austrian artist Bedroom ca. 1853 watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Elizabeth Pochhammer Apartments of Queen Elizabeth of Prussia, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin 1864 watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Caspar Obach Salon, Stuttgart ca. 1850-60 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Ferdinand le Feubure Bedroom of King Pedro IV of Portugal, Palace of Queluz 1850 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Franz Xaver Nachtmann Dressing Room of King Ludwig I, Munich Residence Palace 1836 gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| M. Sekim Room in the Governor's Residence at Hermannstadt ca. 1840 watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
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| Countess Schoenberg Salon Siebleben near Gotha 1856 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |