Book Autopsies

First I have to tell you that as a librarian I gasp at what Brian Dettmer does with books. I'm the kind of person who hardly ever writes in my own books much less treats them the way Dettmer does. Jeff gets in trouble for losing dust jackets or breaking spines. So imagine what should have been my surprise and horror when I saw this.

Or the completely broken spine on this book. 

But the art lover in me is absolutely amazed and adores these fantastic sculptures of paper. I love how Dettmer tries to use the subject of the book to guide his art. The dictionary leads itself to a multiplicity of images, almost too many to comprehend. The history of the english language is taken up entirely by words, no pictures. The technical manual on boilers below shows the machinery in question. And the broken spine title makes me think it was a classic fantasy novel. You can see the escapism in that fantastic work. 

Dettmer does what he calls Book Autopsies. He cuts and paints books to make works of art. I could not find a website by Dettmer but here is one of the more complete websites dedicated to his art. http://centripetalnotion.com/2007/09/13/13:26:26/#more-550 And I am a big believer that books can be art. Take a look at amazing art piece below which is housed in the University of California library at Berkeley. 

And even as I say that I know that one form of books as art drives me up the wall. I hate to go into houses that have display libraries. You know the ones I mean. The house has bookshelves covered in leather bound books just put there for show. Few (if any) of the titles have been read. You can actually buy books that way. My bookcases are filled with durable hardcover books, ratty paperbacks, tattered children's books, and large coffeetable books. And everyone of them has been read. And loved. The number one rule of library science is that Books Are for Use. (S.R. Ranganathan) For reading. For enjoyment. And sometimes for art.