Ryan Gander’s solo show “Ampersand” is the first installment of an “Artist’s Library” exhibition series curated by Akiko Miki. It begins with a window presenting, one by one, sixty-six objects on a conveyor belt. While some were made by the artist and a few were gifts of sentimental value, the majority are consumer goods. All belong to Gander’s personal collection. Ranging from absurdities worthy of a SkyMall catalogue (Zippo perfume) to status symbols (a Leica M9) to what could be office belongings gathered by somebody who’s just been fired (a box of Niceday binders), they amount to a library

It’s a strange phenomenon that has been around since the 1970s, the decade of the famous Carnation Revolution that overturned Salazar in Portugal: flowers and their very specific language serving as emblems for revolutions. There was the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005, and, more recently, the Jasmine Revolution, which, after a month of protests in Tunisia that were bloodily repressed, eventually brought about the downfall of Ben Ali and inspired the revolt of the Arab world in its wake. A number of artists in recent years have seized upon this