For the second annual "See Also" installation in the Cleveland Public Library’s Eastman Reading Garden, Cleveland-based artist Donald Black, Jr. installed a series of hand-crafted chess boards throughout the garden. Celebrating the Library’s John G. White Chess and Checkers collection, the largest chess-related library collection in the world, Power of the Pieces also encourages people to engage with each other over the game of chess in this beloved public space. A natural storyteller, Donald Black, Jr. has created anthropomorphic identities to accompany each of the six characters that are part of a chess set, which will be shared with chess players and other users in the garden.
"We are extending the reach of the library beyond its walls and into the public realm."
The installation is composed of six chess tables, which are built to be played standing up and include photographs of the six chess pieces that move on the boards. Black handcrafted 1,000 chess pieces, which will be available for use in the garden. In addition, Black installed a large image of a small child playing chess with a man, representing Black and his father, who inspired the artist's love of chess from a young age.
Black has described his own childhood dreams and memories of his father coming to visit in the middle of the night and playing chess with him. Because of the connection between chess and his father, the artist began to see the entire world as a possible chess board and began constructing strategies for how to deal with life through the ways that different chess pieces move on the board.
"The Library is excited for the opportunity to bring artwork to the Garden and engage with the public in a new way," says Felton Thomas, director of the Cleveland Public Library. "We believe that by partnering with Cleveland Public Art on the See Also program, we are extending the reach of the library beyond its walls and into the public realm and ensuring that the Main Library remains a destination for Greater Clevelanders."
This artwork is the second installation of the annual program called See Also, which brings new temporary works of art to the Eastman Reading Garden each summer. "See Also" has been developed as a collaborative effort between the Cleveland Public Library and Cleveland Public Art. In addition to the chess boards, public programming and conversations with the artist will also be featured.
[Images courtesy of Cleveland Public Art. For more information about CPA, visit the organization's website at www.clevelandpublicart.org]
