books

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Illustration

Cut Book Illustrations by Thomas Allen

I’ve been wanting to post the work of Michigan-based book artist Thomas Allen for well over a year and was thrilled to see some recently posted works. Allen creates vivid illustrations using figures cut and folded from old books. If you haven’t seen some of his earlier pieces made from vintage pulp fiction novels, head on over to Foley Gallery for a real treat. (via super punch)

Art

Book Igloo

Home is a recent sculptural installation by Colombian artist Miler Lagos. The piece was constructed at MagnanMetz Gallery late last year using carefully stacked books to create a compact dome that is entirely self-supporting. (via chris moore, thanks megan)

Art

Text Drawings Created by Cutting Thousands of Letters from Books and Religious Texts

Throne: The Book of Revelation; letters cut from the Koran, 44.5 x 30 in, 2012

Throne: The Book of Revelation (detail); letters cut from the Koran, 44.5 x 30 in, 2012

Throne: The Book of Revelation (detail); letters cut from the Koran, 44.5 x 30 in, 2012

Bliss; letters cut from the Koran, 9 x 7.75 in, 2011

Bliss (detail); letters cut from the Koran, 9 x 7.75 in, 2011

The Satanic Verses: “Repentance” from the Koran; letters cut from “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie, 21 x 19 in, 2012

The Satanic Verses: “Repentance” from the Koran (detail); letters cut from “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie, 21 x 19 in, 2012

Artist Meg Hitchock (previously) has completed a number of new, elaborate collage works with letters cut from assorted books including the Koran and Salmon Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. The patience required to assemble these absolutely astounds me. If you’re unfamiliar with her work here’s a quote from her artist statement:

In my text drawings I deconstruct the word of God by cutting letters from sacred writings and rearranging them to form a passage from another holy book. I may cut letters from the Bible and reassemble them as a passage from the Koran, or use letters cut from the Torah to recreate an ancient Tantric text. The individual letters are glued to the paper in a continuous line of type, without spaces or punctuation, in order to discourage a literal reading of the text. By bringing together the sacred writings of diverse traditions, I create a visual tapestry of inspired writings, all pointing beyond specifics to the universal need for connection with something greater than oneself.

If you’d like to see some of these pieces up close, Hitchcock currently has work on view all over New York at ACA Galleries, BRIC Contemporary Art and Shick Art Gallery at Skidmore College.

Art

A Skull of Books

I just spotted this new work-in-progress by one of my favorite artists Maskull Lasserre (previously). Incarnate (Three Degrees of Certainty II) is nearly perfect rendering of a human skull from a thick stack of outdated computer manuals. Looking at these particular titles I can’t help but think these books have been called to a much higher purpose.

Animation

A Mind-Melting Animation for Good Books International

Loaded with visual references to the writing of Franz Kafka and Hunter S. Thompson this incredibly slick animation was created by String Theory for online bookseller Good Books International that donates 100% of its profits to Oxfam. There’s another version including narration of Hunter S. Thompson that probably explains the visuals a bit better, but I personally found it a bit distracting. (via vimeo)