Eight custom-built giant letters spell the words LIKE GODS, a reference to HG Wells’ novel ‘Men Like Gods’ (1923) an early Science Fiction novel which takes place within a parallel utopian universe. The letters are bookcases, housing over one thousand books, drawn from the artist’s father’s extensive collection of science fiction books from the 1950s to the 2010s. His collection of nearly entirely second-hand books, includes rare and lesser-known works as well as key books in the Sci-fi canon. The collection is the manifestation of a love for reading and for imagining alternate and possible worlds. LIKE GODS acknowledges the human capacity to ‘play god’: to presume to imagine the future, and reshape the present. It also speaks to a lifelong passion for science fiction, and the act of rescuing and keeping books both personally and publicly.

Ruth will also be exhibiting The Stacks. A short film in conversation with the artists’ father, David Beale, as he explores the basement bookstacks of Swiss Cottage Library, selecting science fiction titles, and explaining how he accumulated nearly two thousand of his own books over sixty years. He reflects on his experience as an avid reader and collector, and his enjoyment of ‘hard SF’.

This event is part of the Imagined Worlds series, a month-long celebration of fantasy and sci-fi exploring world-building and utopian and dystopian futures.