Ecotopian Library
Installation + Living Archive | 2020–Ongoing
Ecotopian Library is a long-term, place-based project that brings together contributions from artists, scholars, scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, librarians, and neighbors to build a growing archive for regenerative futures. Designed as a toolkit for climate adaptation and imagination, the library accumulates and reconfigures with each site it inhabits, blending sculpture, curation, and participatory research.
The project functions as a modular reading room and sculptural installation made of objects, artifacts, books, experiences, digital files, and tools. Ecotopian Library is rooted in the belief that ecotopian thinking—when joined with creative and scientific inquiry—can catalyze systems-level change. Each version of the library reflects the ecological and cultural conditions of its host location, while adding to a shared vision of mutual care and sustainability.
Project Details
- Years: 2020–Ongoing
- Medium: Sculpture, installation, archival curation, participatory project
- Components: Artist books, scientific instruments, tools, soil and seed samples, maps, oral histories, digital media
- Format: Installation, evolving site archive, permanent iterations
“Ecotopian Library began with a simple question: what knowledge do we need to sustain life in a radically changing world, and who holds that knowledge? I wanted to make a space where many disciplines and voices could meet, and where a sense of possibility could emerge from that convergence. As it travels, the library gathers tools (books, stories, seeds, instruments) and grows more site-specific with each location. It’s a place for gathering, imagining, and building new ecologies of care.” - Mattingly
Installation History
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2020 – University of Colorado Art Museum (CUAM), Boulder, CO
Curated by Sandra Firmin. Supported by the CUAM and University of Colorado. -
2021 – Reading Room, Cuenca Biennial, Ecuador
A sculptural reading space built entirely from collected objects and texts. -
2021–2022 – Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Curated by Mark Dion and Heather Lineberry. Expanded with regional contributions. -
2022 – Museum London, Ontario, Canada
Curated by Patric Mahon and Jeff Thomas. The local public library hosted a related Ecotopian Library collection. -
2023 – Thomas Cole National Historic Site, Catskill, NY
Anchorage Museum, Anchorage, AK
Activated through programming on climate and place-based ecology. -
Permanent Installation Hudson Area Library, Hudson, NY with Toolshed
Conceptual Framework
Taking inspiration from Jorge Luis Borges’ Library of Babel, Mattingly views Ecotopian Library not as a static archive, but as a living system: evolving, incomplete, and open-ended. It bridges disciplines including botany, forestry, Indigenous cosmology, literature, and environmental science. By centering local knowledge and embodied practices, the project resists top-down models of environmental futurism and instead proposes a plurality of tools for survival, adaptation, and transformation.
The library builds on ecological infrastructure, mutual aid, and collective imagination, offering a poetic yet practical lens on what we inherit, and what we build, together.
Selected Contributions
- Books and essays on deep ecology and radical pedagogy
- Indigenous seed and soil samples
- Hand-built tools for gathering and growing
- Oral histories and interviews with environmental stewards
- Conceptual instruments for measuring time, transformation, and adaptation
Photographic Documentation
Ecotopian Library at the CUAM, Boulder, Colorado curated by Sandra Firman
Visit the website: EcotopianLibrary.com