World's Biggest Bookstore (2014-15)
This artist's bookwork can be read from either end as the book can be flipped between two covers. Presented here is a small selection of the images in the book.
This intentionally very small book (8" x 8" square) commemorates the closing and demolition of the World's Biggest Bookstore, a Toronto fixture for 34 years, from November 1980 until it closed in March 2014.
One section of the book is comprised of interior images of the store taken on its last day of operation, March 30, 2014 and the other documents the store's demolition over the following year.
I hadn't realized that the store was closing that day when I dropped by on March 30, 2014. When told that this was the last day of operation, I stayed for the rest of the day to record its appearance. Ironically, as an artist used to using large format cameras, I had only my iPhone. The later images of the demolition were taken with a Panasonic Lumix LX-100, a slightly better camera.
The demise of the World's Biggest Bookstore is, of course, part of a sad trend of independent bookstore closings. While, of course, books are still available (but increasingly online) what is lost is the great pleasure and serendipity that often came from the act of browsing.
