Monday, December 6, 2010

Altered books

"2010 Altered Books / TSCPL display"
by Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
I know donating books isn't always an option or even a good idea (think about things like outdated medical textbooks - would you be comfortable with your doctor using information from one of them on you?). I think altered book art can be really interesting, and I love that these books are being given a life beyond what they were originally created for instead of just being thrown away.

You can see some examples of works by altered book artists on the International Society of Altered Book Artists website, but you'd better check the site out quickly: it looks like it may no longer be available after the end of this month. My favorite artists in their gallery are Ber Lazarus, Karen J. Hatzigeorgian, and Pat Sherrill. The picture on the left shows other examples of altered book art from a display done by the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. Check out Flickr (after you finish writing your paper or studying for your finals) for even more pictures of altered book art.

Do you have any favorite altered book artists? Do you like altered book art, or is it just sacrilege? Is it ok under certain circumstances, but not others? Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

3 comments:

Cathy W. said...

Don't you think it would be fun for us (aka the library) to sponsor an art contest that stipulates that books be used as an object's base material?

As part of contestants' supplies, maybe we could offer books that have been "left behind" at multiple Friends of the Dick Smith Library book sales?

There could be all sorts of cool artful, useful, whimsical pieces produced. Don't ya think?

Melissa said...

I think that could be pretty interesting and fun. There are books about altered book art creation (we even used to have one, although it seems to be missing) that could be used as guides and inspiration.

Unknown said...

I think this is a great idea!