Early Works
The Early Works Collection encompasses the period from 1978 - 1983 when Lynn Book lived in Memphis, Tennessee in the US. The artworks here reflect Book’s exuberant experimentation as a transfer student in 1978 from liberal arts environments at University of Memphis and University of North Texas where she received formative modern dance training and began choreographing works “for bodies in space”. Simultaneously, Book was taking night classes at the Memphis Academy of Art, later known as the Memphis College of Art (referred to as the latter in this archive). She also participated in research trips to Chicago and New York, seeking out the edges of what constituted art in that moment in time, especially the emergent area of ‘performance art.’
In the spirit of Black Mountain College, the Memphis College of Art was an immersive studio school for visual and material arts where Book received a B.F.A. in sculpture in 1982. Founded in 1936 and closed in 2020, the MCA was an architecturally significant building (Harrover and Mann, 1959) sited in the middle of 300-acre Overton Park as part of an enclave of arts structures including the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. The school attracted faculty and students exploring traditional and new media, had a robust visiting artist program, and was a catalytic resource for a public long invested in arts and culture.
This environment was conducive to Book’s vivid explorations in the contemporary art practices of the day. From performance art to site-specific work, she developed her body-based practices, adopting and inventing ideas and approaches across media and form to produce unorthodox outcomes. These works occupied ambiguous territory between, for instance, drawing and sculpture, still vs moving image, and always pushing performance to its limits. Exceeding boundaries, Book also created work throughout the MCA building, the park and the city itself. Several sub-collections are found here highlighting her artworks in curated exhibitions, such as the 1980-81 “Up Front”, and a commission for one of the earliest “Memphis in May” festivals, now an international event. Also, in this Collection are early video art works that lay the groundwork for Book’s continued use of media in inventive, interactive ways.
