This site has pictures of altered books by Brian Dettmer, as well as a few photos that show books in progress. Below is one of them…
Map Dresses
Susan Stockwell makes dresses out of maps, see detail below. See many more examples here and here. (First seen here.)
Book Collecting: Chairs from the Farmers Market
This little (2-1/2″ x 3-1/2″) accordion book is another one in my artist’s book collection. I’m always fond of books with chairs, and these are especially fun, as Elaine (from Blue Chair Press) photographed chairs she made from veggies she got at her local farmer’s market.
Artist’s Books on Etsy
I was looking at artist’s book on Etsy the other day, and here are a few I found.
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Rachel’s Garden I “Concertina hand bound miniature artist book with cut-outs. It tells a story of Rachel the cat exploring her territory in her imaginary garden because she lives in an apartment in the metropolitan area. ” It’s quite small, only 2.56″ x 2.56″. Lots more pictures here, and more books here. |
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Access and Closure “This is … a letterpress book titled Access & Closure: stories from in and out of an occupied Palestine… The stories in the book began during the summer of 2006, when I spent ten weeks in Palestine.” I especially like the illustrations, which the author, Toby Millman, says “were traced from original photographs or maps”. More about the book & illustrations here. |
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The Lost Land “This is a modern day fairy tale about Mnemosyne, a self-proclaimed “witch of memories” living in a cave located in an overgrown and crumbling playground … Letterpress printed in the original Chinese with accompanying English translation, bound as a dos-a-dos.” I’m always charmed by dos-a-dos bindings that work — and this one seems the perfect subject. |
Antibooks and Antipoetry
My friend Sharon sent me a link to pictures of Francisca Prieto’s The Antibook, described as a “non-conventional book of Nicanor Parra’s ‘AntiPoems’. It is a visual expression of his ‘Anti’ idea–opposing conventions. The essence of the book was analysed and its components abstracted in order to re-define the conventional form of a typical book.”
This kept me busy for an hour, looking up “antipoetry” (defined by Wikipedia “as an art movement that attempts to break away from the normal conventions of poetry… and sought to reject the belief that verse holds any mystical power. The poems have been described as prose-like, irreverent, and illuminating the problems of human existence.”)
The movement was founded by Chiliean poet Nicanor Parra. To get an idea of his poetry, here is one from his book Antipoems: How to Look Better & Feel Great
Stop Racking your brains
nobody reads poetry nowadays
it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad.
See more poems and other writing here.
