Books have always been valued for their physical "object-ness" They have always been far more than simply words on paper. Books have been elaborately illustrated, adorned with rare materials that serve as book covers, and have been monetarily valued as priceless. But once almost any book comes to the end of the road in terms of it's physical condition, it is fair game for artists who use the idea of a book as a metaphor or symbol.
Some popular techniques for transforming an existing book into an art book are origami, papier mache, gluing, cutting, and laminating. Artists also often use the existing pages as they are, print included as a raw material for the content of THEIR book. For instance, if the concept of the artist work is an investigation into the feminine role of "Princess", she might select an existing book on that theme for her artwork.
Books pages can be drawn on using graphite, colored pencil, marker, and crayon. They can be painted on with gouache, or India inks. If sealed with gesso they can even accept acrylic, and tempera paints.
Found materials can be glued, taped, stitched, stapled, or even riveted onto a page or pages. The possibilities are endless.
It is little wonder that deceased books are so often used by artists as an art medium.
No comments:
Post a Comment