The "bootleg library" is a particular, situated social infrastructure. It operates from the understanding that the library is a collection; a collection of the texts contained within it, and the readers collected around them. A reciprocal, self-reflexive relationship between the texts and the readers produces sociability. A bootleg is an unauthorised copy of a source publication; bootlegging is a strategy by which texts acquire diversity, resisting singularity and representing readers.
Simon Browne (AU) is an artist, researcher, organiser and contingent librarian. His practice focuses on social infrastructures, the tools that support them, and the contingencies they offer.
This research has been supported by the Ian Potter Cultural Trust.
