“Free Speech Zone” at NYPL

By Staff -- Library Journal, 10/15/2005

Artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese transformed the entrance of New York Public Library's Donnell Library Center this September (which included Banned Books Week) with two sets of illuminated triptychs, each with backlit portraits of blindfolded individuals. The two middle sections display a scrolling collage of passages from books that have been challenged or censored. The installation's title “Free Speech Zone” derives from the practice, in various locations, of restricting First Amendment rights to areas called “free speech zones.” Said Reese, “We created this work as a provocative statement against the banning of books.”