A Bibliophile's Delight: When Damaging Books Is OK
As a librarian, normally I'd be appalled to someone taking sharp objects to books and cutting up precious pages of text and illustrations. However, when I see the work of artists like Brian Dettmer, I see something stunning and beautiful. Far from a vulgar desecration of the written word, these repurposed books have gained new life as visual art:
Music of the World
Altered Vintage Encyclopedias
Altered Copy of Brave New World
New Books of Knowledge
ROTC Manual
Science in the 20th Century
Then there is this video which was produced for the New Zealand Book Council. The animation used to bring this book to life is amazing. And, yes, it looks like they had to cut up a book to make it. But isn't it beautiful?