Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The Book

If you love books as much as I do the thought of mutilating, altering, drawing and writing in one is almost unthinkable.  It sends shivers up my spine (pardon the pun).

But, after looking though photographer and designer Julius Friedman's new book: The Book, I've changed my mind.

Imagine taking old books and by tearing them, burning them, combining them, altering them, decorating them with odds and ends, drawing in them and even applying additional script you could create spectacular works of art!

That's just what readers get to witness in this wonderful new hardbound book from Old Stone Press/Atlas Books.  Page after page of full color photographs showcase just what can be done by reinventing, redesigning and re-purposing old books,

Fantastic 3D sculptures of twisted pages, pierced covers, shredded spins, ruffled pages, ravaged volumes and decorated interiors and exteriors bring new life to old, worn-out books.

Re-purposed and brought back to life the collection of written pages defines what it means to see objects not as they, are but what they could be.

When I was teaching art at a local high school a fellow art teacher often used old books in much the same manner.  This taught students to view books not for the sole purpose of reading them but the hidden potential (with a gentle persuading) in their pages.  Bravo!