Miami Art Week is always about spectacle but, this year, Faena Art is celebrating its 10th anniversary by staging something especially transcendent: a new, site-specific commission from British artist Es Devlin that literally moves.
From December 2 to 7, Faena Beach will be the site of "Library of Us," a 50-foot kinetic sculpture that will slowly rotate within a reflective pool, filled with 2,500 of the books that have shaped Devlin’s imagination, philosophy and life. The free installation will be open daily from 1pm to 9pm, and marks Devlin’s most ambitious Miami project yet.
Part performance, part sculpture and part meditation on language, "Library of Us" will transform Faena Beach into a shared space for reading, reflection and quiet connection. Guests will take a seat at the 70-foot circular reading table surrounding the luminous bookshelf, where some of the chairs will remain still and others will rotate. The goal will be to encourage spontaneous encounters as visitors move past one another and the glowing pages of annotated books. On one side of the structure, a 30-foot LED screen will flash lines from 250 different books while Devlin’s voice will reads the aloud, turning the installation into something between a conversation and a collective inner monologue.
"I have always experienced libraries as silent, intensely vibrant places where minds and imaginations soar, while clutched like kites by their seated bodies," Devlin said in a statement. "I sense the synaptic connections being forged, the resonances and associations at play within the minds of a temporary community of readers. This installation seeks to express the vitality of the library through a series of encounters between viewers revolving to meet one another through language around a circular collective reading table."
In addition to the main beachfront work, Devlin’s project will continue inside the Faena Cathedral with "Reading Room," a meditative companion piece, and in the Faena Project Room with drawings and glass works that reveal her layered creative process. Together, the installations form a rare large-scale survey of Devlin’s multidisciplinary world, where literature, architecture and theater meet.
All 2,500 books from "Library of Us" will be donated to local schools and libraries after Art Week, extending the piece’s communal spirit into Miami’s neighborhoods. Faena Art will also host a week of programming around the installation, including an artist talk with Devlin at Faena Theater, public readings and collaborative performances with Miami-based artists.
Admission is free, and no tickets are required. For schedules and program updates, visit faenaart.org.