Useful Links and Contemporary Examples...

This post is a collection of useful websites I've found that have aided my project but it is also a compilation of contemporary artists that use books as a medium.

http://www.ebsqart.com/artMagazine/za_271.htm

Article from an online art magazine

http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/artbkmks.htm

Collection of book art links

http://www.alteredbookartists.com/

International society of altered book artists (ISABA)


Whilst searching for useful links, I came across this quote and Chinese propoganda poster:




"To Read Too Many Books is Harmful"(Mao Zedong)

It made me realise, although I am saddened by the fact there are too many books for me to read in my lifetime; for others, reading books is a punishable offence. In a way, my punishment is that I am free to read all books but I also have the knowledge that it is impossible to do so. This is what I call the eternal dilemma of a bookseller.

The website that the poster comes from is http://chineseposters.net/toomanybooks/index.php
This website is the digital version of an exhibition, which was organised by and held at the libraries of the Sinological Institute (Leiden Univeristy, Netherlands) between 7th December 2004 and 30th June 2005.


This particular website: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/09/bittersweet-art-of-cutting-up-books.html looks at the "weird and wonderful" and I came across an article called "The Bittersweet Art of Cutting Up Books" It was certainly interesting and has given me knowledge of some contemporary book artists that I had previously been unaware of. For example, Jacqueline Rush Lee and Cara Barer

http://www.jacquelinerushless.com/

http://www.carabarer.com/

Another artist is Georgia Russell; http://www.englandgallery.com/artist_group.php?mainId=32&media=Constructions%20%26%20mixed%20media

Su Blackwell is an interesting one, I liked this image so much that I had to show it here too;

http://www.sublackwell.co.uk/

I think is beautifully done and has once again made me think about childrens books as a medium on which to experiment. I feel that manipulating the narrative of a childrens story into that of an adult narrative would be highly challenging and would highlight the absurdity in the usage of language in the two genres. By subverting something seen as innocent into something quite shocking I would also be challenging the moral assumptions of my audience as well as their assumptions of what a book (within the boundaries of a certain genre) should be. Thus manipulating not only the books themselves but also the audiences aesthetic experience and perception.

Mike Stilkey is another contemporary artist however he uses the spines of books piles up together as a canvas. This is one way of using books that I had not considered and I might try out this technique especially as I have been known to organise my book collection by not only author surname but colour of spine also!

http://www.mikestilkey.com/

Jim Rosenau's work makes me laugh and by using books themselves as a book shelf transforms

them into furniture. This suggests to me that Rosenau is possibly making a reference that too many people see books as furniture or merely to decorate a room.

His humour appeals to me especially as I prefer to act in ways which amuse me or produce art that makes me laugh regardless of how subjective the joke often is. Doing something for the sake of fun or amusement is important especially when I am focusing on a medium which holds such a significance to my very being. Books are about entertainment and so I appreciate work which can blend subtle humour but also celebrate books as art.

His website is one worth looking at: http://www.thisintothat.com/

Dark Roasted Blend has proved one of the most useful sites so far and it has another article which looks at book sculpture: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/08/unusual-books.html

These sites have given me a lot to think about and I will continue my experimentation over the next month using the techniques I have learnt about. I need to also research the alteration of words and perhaps the different ways I can alter narrative.