Carving art out of literature
These books are works of art in more ways than one
Art Made from Books: Altered Sculptured, Carved, Transformed, released this month by Chronicle Books, is a collection of incredibly detailed works by more than 25 artists who use books as their medium.
Using a variety of techniques — from carving to stitching — artists transform the bound pages into thought-provoking sculptures. A relatively new art form that was started in the late 1960s by artist Tom Phillips, the finished products often present layers of meaning that speak to the source material as well as the artist's interpretations of the texts.
Here, some of our favorite works featured in the book:
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Unabridged, 2007, by Vita Wells | Book, hair, lights, fan, key, screw, hinges, and glue
Explorer, 2011, by Cara Barer | Archival pigment print on rag paper
Greek Art, 2007, by Nicholas Jones | Cut book
Paper Typerwriter, 2011, by Jennifer Collier | Vintage typewriter manual pages, gray board, and machine stitching
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Stupa, 2012, by Guy Laramée | Carved Tibetan-Chinese dictionary
Reading and Interpretation VIII, 2009, by Pablo Lehmann | Photographic print cut out with text
The Baron in the Trees, 2011, by Su Blackwell | Secondhand book, lights, glass, and wood box
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Loren Talbot is the photo editor for The Week magazine. She has previously worked for Stuff, Maxim, Blender, and Us magazine, as well as for the Sweet Genius production company. She is a graduate of both Marlboro College and Pratt Institute. Her part-time job is adventurer.
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