Hello. This was a good find at the library, I absolutely love it, it's opening my eyes to a lot of possibilities. Who would have thought that there are so many alternative uses for old unwanted books. The charity shops are stuffed with them, and car booters sell them for as little as 10p each. I don't think reading will ever go out of fashion completely, but a lot of people are turning to electronic gadgets to satisfy their hunger for the written word.
So what's to be done with the trillions and zillions of books left to gather dust, unlikely to ever see the light of day again? Would be ideal if they could be shipped off to less well off countries, but I doubt that will happen. This may be the answer for a very small quantity of them. They can be used as raw materials for artworks.
I am not able to show what's in the book, but the front and back cover gives a taste of what's inside.
Alicia Martin is a Spanish Artist who created the cascade of books on the back cover. There are many more pictures of her work on this web site.
Jonathan Callan uses a variety of materials, but mainly books. Born in Manchester, he has exhibited all over the world. His web site is a catalogue of his work from 1986 to the present day.
Jim Rosenau is a quirky artist. He makes book shelves out of books. His work will make you smile.
Mike Stilkey paints pictures on books. Not just on one book, but tons of them stacked up. He started by painting on yellow pages. Take a look at his amazing pictures here.
Brian Dettmer has an amazing web site. His sculpture is on the front cover of the book. Sorry, I can't get his web site to load correctly, maybe you can. I have found a Ted video of him speaking about his art, take a look, this man is very clever, I love his art.
I've had a little play today with an unwanted book. I was intending to use it in some kind of artwork, ok, so it's a practice piece, and it's not perfect. See if you can guess the title for a bit of fun.
It's been ever so warm today, and it's forecast the same for next week. I think I ought to have a few days away before winter arrives. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip
I love your artwork book, although I just cannot for the life of me think what you've called it. You'll have to put me out of my misery soon ;-)
ReplyDeleteMy guess: locked into artwork. Hope the weather holds out just a few more days before October sets in. Amanda
ReplyDeletelucky you,wet wet and dull here in south wales lol!
ReplyDeleteUnlock your imagination and create with books?
ReplyDeleteLocked and Secured? Locked Down? Screws, Wire and Locked and Loaded? I don't know - I think I've got a bit carried away. Love the book art. Have you checked out the folded book art on Pinterest? I wish I had the patience to try some type of book folding. Can't wait to see what you have called your art piece. I appreciate it when you find things that I may not know about, and take the time to share. Ranee (MN) USA
ReplyDeleteA Closed Book?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful works.
ReplyDeleteHave seen some amazing articles and pictures on such works, too.
Just thought of a suggestion for you, for your next shed.
Find someone chucking a ton of books. Dip each in some kind of exterior acrylic (seen something like) or such, and use the dipped books to build a shed. Spines out, or maybe out and in, for a double layer and book spines to read on exterior and interior.
I think it may be "entwined". I cheated though cos I looked through Linda La Plante books titles.
ReplyDeleteI'm finding there are less and less books in charity shops to buy these days. Tearing them up is a shocking waste of a resource that someone will appreciate in the way it was intended. Some of us have obscure tastes and do want apparently old and 'past it' books. I wish more of them made it for sale so I could read them, but in our cosmetic world too many get thrown out by charity shops. That too is not good and is wasteful. I watched someone ripping out a page of a beautifully illustrated book the other day (online video) in order to collage a single sentence. The whole book was destroyed. I would mind anyway, but the 'art work' is often pretty ugly. I like to make art but not by being destructive. Books are important.
ReplyDeleteDear Ilona, Google "altered books" and be prepared to learn about yet another joyous and interesting hobby. Free materials, as you will soon see. I love doing this. Warm wishes from Elaine near Philadelphia
ReplyDeleteThat book is fab. Might have to see if Devon Library service have it. xxx
ReplyDeleteWow, that is amazing. I thought the video was really interesting and carving into the books gave some amazing effects. I love books and have a large collection and have a book on the go at all times but I can still see that it is very clever to be able to re purpose like this. What a clever guy. Your title - maybe- Book Lock as apposed to PaddLock. Just a daft guess!
ReplyDeleteIs it a Mystery Book?
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of bags that my sister used to sell which were made from old books. The internal part of the book was falling apart but the lady salvaged the hard cover and made very quirky bags from them. Looks a bit like this
https://www.etsy.com/listing/84047364/alice-in-wonderland-altered-book-purse?utm_campaign=Share&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_source=Pinterest
Some villages in our area are using disused phone boxes as tiny libraries. It has been suggested for our village. I hang on to my books, some I have had since a child.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post yesterday I immediately thought of a project that I could work on next. I have tons of old books that are a bit past their best
ReplyDelete