Kirsty Weakley critiques Oxfam's latest YouTube addition - a timelapse video highlighting the construction of a maze made out of its books at the Royal Festival Hall.

Part of the London 2012 Festival, aMAZEme was created by Brazilian artists Marcos Saboya and Gualter Pupo using 150,000 books leant by Oxfam and 100,000 donated by publishing houses. All the books used will be donated to Oxfam at the end of the exhibition to raise funds in its shops.

As part of the project the artists and production company created the timelapse video which shows the transformation of the ballroom from an empty space into the maze over the course of a week.

Commenters on Youtube have already described it a “novel idea”, “literally huge” and “totes amazebooks” so I won’t attempt to out-pun them.

The only thing the film seems to be missing is a sound track – could I suggest Paperback Writer by the Beatles or the Writer by Ellie Goulding?

Oxfam was approached by the artists and the production company, Hungryman Projects, with the idea for the installation.

The shape of the maze has been inspired by the writer and educator JL Borges and is formed in the shape of his unique fingerprint. Some sections of the maze reach 2.5 metres high and the installation covers 500 square metres in the Clore Ballroom in the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Southbank Centre’s Festival of the world.

Literary quotes have also been projected onto the walls of the maze along with audio and touch screens allow visitors to look up information.

The installation lasts until 25 August.

 

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