You’re invited to a thought-provoking conversation with Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson, the artists behind The Last Library IV: Written in Water, and the MFA’s Hazel & William Hough Chief Curator, Dr. Stanton Thomas. Together, they’ll unpack the ideas behind this immersive installation, a precarious library where truth, fiction, and power collide. 

Filled with banned books, fabricated records, propaganda, and foundational texts, The Last Library IV asks urgent questions about evidence, authorship, and the fragile systems that shape what we believe. In this lively discussion, Shelley and Paulson will share insights into the project’s evolution, its use of humble materials like cardboard, and its relevance in an era defined by misinformation and censorship.

From the enduring power of the written word to its growing instability in today’s “post-truth” landscape, this conversation offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from the artists about how and why this work challenges us to reconsider what we trust – and why it matters.

Sun, July 12, 1 PM
Free with admission; Registration required

Register

ABOUT THE ARTISTS 

Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson have been collaborating in performance and installation projects since they met in Brooklyn in 2004. Their most-often cited works are the Archive projects and the Last Library series, in which rooms full of sculptural objects, typically books and boxes, become immersive sculptural supports for text. They have also made inhabited structures in which they lived and worked, such as Flatland with Alex Schweder, and have collaborated with artist collectives in Queens, New York.

The text material in The Archives and Last Libraries reflect the artists interest in the plight of contemporary culture and how it has been shaped by mass media technologies and the needs of the powerful. Popular internet memes, trendy political jingoism, lost histories, commercial slogans and notions of individualism are all in play. These pieces are designed for immersive browsing and reflection. No two person’s experiences will be the same.

Shelley and Paulson have exhibited together more than 25 times across the United States and Europe, but centered in the New York area. Shelley also makes informational diagrams and inhabited performance architecture with Alex Schweder. A graduate of Florida Presbyterian College, now Eckerd College, Shelley splits his time between Connecticut and Florida. Douglas Paulson has years of experience working in the artist collective scene and teaches at Parsons, New School University. He lives in Queens, NY.