between a book and a soft place

nicole killian is an associate professor of Graphic Design at VCUarts. A designer, artist, and educator based in Richmond, VA, killian’s practice oscillates between digital and analog modes for testing publishing projects. between a book and a soft place, was a site-specific installation of vivacious play spaces dedicated to language installed at The Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU from April 26-July 16, 2023 as a part of their Misread Unread Read Re-read Misread Unread Re-read (MURRMUR) exhibition series expanding how we think about reading, publishing, and distributing art, books, and ideas organized by ICA Assistant Curator of Commerce + Publications, Egbert Vongmalaithong.

Inspired by conversation pits and the Italian radical design movement, each structure invites visitors to have a seat and become a book. Consider the different ways language may be carried, embodied, and queered. We dance language with our bodies, wear it, and hold it in our hands. This new commission is a study for killian’s ongoing research questions around queering design education. “How can we understand designers as bodies in space, with agency, instead of simply ‘creatives? And how can we understand bodies of text as living things that produce difficult conversations, instead of simply “content’?” The public is invited to engage with these questions, leaving traces of their presence over time.

Made in collaboration with HH Hiaasen, textile artist; Matt Pockett, fabricator; and Jen Ansley, 3D designer.

After the exhibition, killian’s piece was gifted and installed at The Sabot School for students ranging from pre-k through 8th grade to interact with.