The Books of Groningen

Choreographic object by Daniel Libeskind with William Forsythe, 1991

BOOK N(7):
Dance/Mechanics/3pm/Streets/Red Flame/Erato
William Forsythe

Daniel Libeskind`s plan for the city markings of Groningen is an adventurous approach to the theme of non-existent reality. In it he subsumes the past, the present and the future of the city of Groningen. «The Books of Groningen» refer to the cultural, social, political and economic process that the city has undergone since its origins and which is continued in the lives of the inhabitants. «The Books» comprise a text, according to Libeskind "the historical text, read and written by the citizens of the once and yet-to-be City, permanently remarking the boundaries of Groningen in time and space.

" The plan itself was presented in the form of a large aluminium book, the pages of which were screwed together with nuts and bolts. In it the nine signs for the city were related to the letters of the old name C(1) R(2) U(3) O(4) N(5) I(6) N(7) G(8) A(9)

Each of the letters of the same CRUONINGA is assigned to a place or locus where one of the markings will be erected. Going clockwise round the city following the nine signs -see the street plan- the old name of the city can be read.