ABOUT

(blurb at exhibition):

Staffordshire University graduate, Lucas Swann, envisioned, made and now exhibits above a visual artifact that conveys a sentiment of some significance to its setting, the library. On a superficial level, the piece refers to the temperature point at which book paper ignites, while on a more profound level it pays homage to Ray Bradbury’s classic 1953 novel, ‘Fahrenheit 451’. Bradbury’s novel presents a dystopian future society in which books are banned and all information and entertainment is controlled and televised exclusively through home ‘viewing screens’. In this world, ‘fire officers’ police the possession of books and burn them on site. In keeping with the message of the story, the shocking nature of Lucas’s ‘451 ºF’ aims to provoke a reaction and stress the value of books. As Joseph Brodsky once said:

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”