Transforming books into art
While on my road trip scouting locations in Nashville last week, I saw some cool examples of books turned into art in two of the hotels we stayed at. In the lobby of The Grady Hotel in Louisville, this piece uses books as a kind of mosaic tile canvas for a painting of a horse. Very apropos since Louisville is in horse-racing country.
And in the 21c Museum Hotel in Cincinnati, this piece by Wim Botha mounted encyclopedias on bolts and then carved them. I’d seen this done by other artists, but this execution was striking. This piece was untitled, but my wife and I both got MacBeth-ian “Alas, poor Yorick” vibes.
While I love seeing books donated to schools and libraries, or shared via a Little Free Library like the one we have, I recognize that some books become dated or become damaged. When that happens, it’s great when they can be upcycled into art.
Have you seen any great art made from books?
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