photo by: Richard Gwin

From left, Yuri Zupancic, Ben Ahlvers and Jeremy Rockwell unwrap artwork by William Burroughs on Friday at the Lawrence Arts Center.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Ben Ahlvers projects the face of writer and artist William S. Burroughs onto a mannequin that will be reading some of Burroughs’ works as part of the “Creative Observer” exhibit Friday at the Lawrence Arts Center. The exhibit, which kicks off Jan 17, and related events will celebrate the life and works Burroughs, who would have turned 100 on Feb. 5.

photo by: Jeremy Rockwell/Contributed Photo

Thick Pages #8 (front and back), by William S. Burroughs, ink, paint and xerographic sheets on handmade paper, 31 inches x 24 inches, 1990

photo by: Jeremy Rockwell/Contributed Photo

"Entrance to the Place of the Green Deer," by William S. Burroughs, ink and spray paint on sketchbook paper, 14 inches x 11 inches, 1988

photo by: Jeremy Rockwell/Contributed Photo

Untitled Triptych (three sheets of plywood), by William S. Burroughs, spray paint and shotgun blasts on plywood, 22 inches x 15 inches each, 1993

photo by: Jeremy Rockwell/Contributed Photo

Andy Warhol, A Portrait in TV dots, we is all made of just waiting to be observed. Nothing exists until, or unless, it is observed, according to John Wheeler of Recognition Physics, by William S. Burroughs, spray paint on paper, 21.3 inches x 19.4 inches, 1992