Book Talk: A Transformative Building, Carrie Mae Weems and Conceptual Book Design

Book Talk: A Transformative Building, Carrie Mae Weems and Conceptual Book Design by Caleb Cain MarcusSeptember 20, 2025

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©Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown, published by Luminosity Lab, photo by ©️TBP 2024

Last year Brown Arts Institute (BAI) which houses the Bell Gallery at Brown University begana new arts publishing division with aninaugural book unusual in scope:to celebrate the newly completed Lindemann Performing Arts Center designed by REX Architects and the first featured artist, Carrie Mae Weems. The Lindemann defies our expectation of a space’s architecture. The main space has floating walls and hydraulics under the floors that reconfigure it into five different floor plans, each that serve a different purpose, like an orchestral space, a flat floor and a stage. Books too are expected to be static. When we see a book at a friend’s and later purchase a copy, we understand the book will have the same order of images. What if it didn’t?

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©Carrie Mae Weems. Shades of Brown, published by Luminosity Lab, photo by ©️TBP 2024

While building the concept for Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown we wanted to echo the Lindemann and break the convention of a static sequence by showing Carrie Mae Weems’ projects in different orders, to create five variations of the book.

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©Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown, published by Luminosity Lab, photo by ©️TBP 2024

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©Carrie Mae Weems: Varying Shades of Brown, published by Luminosity Lab, photo by ©️TBP 2024

Luminosity Lab developed an organizational method and visual system of distinct blocks that allows the interior sequence to change between variations. The experience occurs when two or more books are seen sequentially and the reader views Carrie Mae Weems art in different arrangements. Upon seeing these variations, the brain tries to rationalize what has been experienced, thinking perhaps it’s miscalculated, and both books are the same. This unexpected experience breaks our expectations of the book and produces a bit of pleasure and a small rift in reality.