Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Book Autopsies (updated)

Brian Dettmer: Book Autopsies, photo essay.

Bert found this page of pictures of sculptures, made by cutting out parts of books, one of the ingredients is revealing art on some of the interior pages.




Update: Dave said:
Bit gimmicky, though, don't you think?

 Eolake said...
Yeah, I guess it does lean a bit in that direction. I've posted other things, like for example the guy who makes small sculptures carved from the lead in a pencil. (I've called it "art or sport?")

The funny thing is, if one looks at the most fancy art galleries, a lot of modern art also depends on gimmickery. Like a sculpture I saw, where the materials were listed as "wood, foam rubber, and urine".

Also, I think for many people, a big part of what's needed for them to appreciate "art" is "something I can't do". Which really, to me, is pretty incidental to the central artistic value.

For me, additionally, something like these books has an aesthetic quality which comes, not exactly from the gimmick, but from enjoyment of detailed craft. Similar to a model ship. Not exactly art, not exactly useful either.

6 comments:

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Wow. Way cool.

Anonymous said...

Bit gimmicky, though, don't you think?

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

One man's gimmickiness is another man's innovativeness...
(My verif admits that answer is "comidi". ;-)

But seriously, I think it's quite creative. And looks very un-obvious to accomplish properly.

Anonymous said...

But seriously, I think it's quite creative. And looks very un-obvious to accomplish properly.

I don't doubt it requires a great deal of skill and ingenuity but it seems like one of those things that, despite that, is a bit of a gimmick in that beyond the "oh, that's cool" there's not a lot there. I can still admire the skill required to make it though.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Well, there's a lot of potential in it. Think 3-D collage married to book sculpture.
Sure, it's uneven, but some of it is real artsy. IMHO.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yeah, I guess it does lean a bit in that direction, Dave. I've posted other things, like for example the guy who makes small sculptures carved from the lead in a pencil.

The funny thing is, if one looks at the most fancy art galleries, a lot of modern art also depends on gimmickery. Like a sculpture I saw, where the materials were listed as "wood, foam rubber, and urine".

Also, I think for many people, a big part of what's needed for them to appreciate "art" is "something I can't do". Which really, to me, is pretty incidental to the central artistic value.

For me, additionally, something like these books has an aesthetic quality which comes, not exactly from the gimmick, but from enjoyment of detailed craft. Similar to a model ship. Not exactly art, not exactly useful either.