Art Made from Books: Altered, Sculpted, Carved, Transformed - Hardcover

Kuhn, Alyson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1452117101 ISBN 13: 9781452117102

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2013

Synopsis

This volume collects a jaw-dropping assortment of art made from books―by cutting, painting, sawing, laminating, balancing or stacking. The definitive guide to the emerging art form, Art Made from Books showcases groundbreaking work by today's best practitioners, from Su Blackwell’s whimsical pop-up landscapes to the stacked-book sculptures of Jonathan Callan. A foreword by pioneering artist Brian Dettmer and an introduction by design critic Alyson Kuhn complete the collection, presented in an unusual, tactile package with exposed spine.

About this title

Review

"Books take on a whole new life in Laura Heyenga's anthology of groundbreaking artists who've stitched, sliced, cut and carved bound literature to create anything from an intricate chess set to a huge area rug to a literary jewelry collection. (Never fear: The artists use recycled or discarded books-that otherwise would end up in landfills!). In fact, the real joy of this book comes from discovering how each individual starts with the same item and yet ends up with vastly different works of art." - Oprah.com

"I was instantly taken with Art Made from Books: Altered, Sculpted, Carved, Transformed - a compendium of extraordinary artworks from the around the world.... Sensual, rugged, breathtakingly intricate, ranging from "literary jewelry" to paperback chess sets to giant area rugs woven of discarded book spines, these cut and carved tomes remind us that art is not a thing but a way of being in the world that transmutes its dead cells into living materials, its cultural legacy into ever-evolving art forms and creative sensibilities." - Brain Pickings

"The 27 visual artists whose portfolios comprise this exciting collection each work with printed books as their medium. They carve, paint, and repurpose pulp to striking effect, building startling secondary evocations from their material's primary narratives.... The central message is uplifting and joyous-that a book is a uniquely precious, infinitely malleable treasure chest in the hands of an ambitious artist....A magical collection of paper wonders." - Publishers Weekly

"As a bibliophile, you might have conflicting emotions about these sculptures. Many books were harmed in the making of this book. But the thousands of painted, shredded, and petrified pages are not so much defiled as exalted by the artists whose works are shown in lush photos here." - Entertainment Weekly

From the Author

Alyson Kuhn is a freelance writer and branding strategist. She is a regular contributor to the beloved design and paper goods blog, Felt & Wire. Brian's artwork has been featured in The New York Times, Wired, and The Guardian, among other prestigious publications. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Laura Heyenga is a former editor at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the author of Paper Cutting. She lives in Berkeley, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1452117101
• ISBN 13: 9781452117102
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176
• Editor: Heyenga Laura