This weekend the most amazing thing that I saw was a book. This, although not being very profound, is for me quite the achievement (I seem to have been reading David Copperfield for the last six months… nay, years!) But it was not the written word that caught my attention, more the lack of it.

Dettmer reflects the text's subject matter in his art

American artist Brian Dettmer is ‘one of the leading International contemporary artists working with the book ‘. (OK, that was a little quote from his site, I don’t think it does his work the slightest bit of justice but I did find it funny.) Using nothing but a scalpel and tweezers Dettmer cuts into encyclopedias, medical journals and other rich and relevant publications to create works of art, breathing added life into the beauty of the written word.

“The richness and depth of the book is universally respected yet often undiscovered as the monopoly of the form and relevance of the information fades over time. The book’s intended function has decreased and the form remains linear in a non-linear world. By altering physical forms of information and shifting preconceived functions, new and unexpected roles emerge.”
Brian Dettmer 

Combining books in intelligent ways creates amazing effects

Even folding one book can create incredible depth and curves

Painstakingly pawing through each page, Dettmer picks out a perfect composition of characters

A clever cascade effect is created from eight books

Many more beautiful images can be found on Flickr.

via