Brian dettmer is certainly an artist, but his work looks unlike anything weve ever seen before. Little red riding hood detail 2010 by su blackwell. Theyre wonderful, informative presentations on a wide variety of topics that take about 20 minutes or less to watch. The university of mississippi museum brian dettmer.
From 1q84 to jurassic park, kidd explains in able detail how the cover of a book is made. Curated by michelle tillou at the springbreak art show ny. Dettmers art has been the subject of solo exhibitions at numerous institutions including the hermann geiger foundation, cecina, italy, museum of contemporary art of georgia, atlanta, ga, and virginia museum of contemporary art, virginia beach, va. Dec 17, 2019 we were intrigued by brians work and after a closer look, we were astounded by the care and remarkable attention to detail put into each piece. The reactions to his work as being disrespectful seems to treat books as living. Brian dettmer, the book surgeon, crafted book sculpture.
The story can be found here in the new yorker, may 4, 2015. An email from ted arrived in my inbox yesterday announcing new talks to view. I had the opportunity to watch brian dettmers ted talk attached below and one of the most fascinating question he poses is how we treat texts. In the 2007 ted talk video embedded below author and illustrator maira kalman talks about her life and work, from her covers for the new yorker to her books for children and grownups. Odd volumes brian dettmer ted talk talk about timing. This ted talk by filmmaker kirby ferguson in 2012 explores remixing, the art of reuse in creativity. What do you do with an outdated encyclopedia in the information age. Kidd has several ted talks, all of which i highly recommend. She is as wonderful, as wise and as deliciously offkilter in person as she is on paper. Dettmer starts with a book he has sealed around the edges, then uses knives, tweezers and surgical tools to carve one page at a time, exposing each layer while cutting around ideas and images of interest. Artist brian dettmer digs into a good book literally, with a knife to create beautifully intricate forms that reflect how we see old information in a. Artist brian dettmer digs into a good book literally, with a knife to create beautifully intricate forms that reflect how we see old. Its of a book that has been cut into to expose layers and parts from pages beneath the front. More about his work and his contemporaries follows.
Artist brian dettmer explores these concepts through his work where he binds the sides of books and carves intricate patterns and designs into them. To create new art, sculptor brian dettmer cuts up old books. He is noted for his alteration of preexisting mediasuch as old books, maps, record albums, and cassette tapesto create new, transformed works of visual fine art. Brian dettmer, new funk standards, 2017, hardcover book, acrylic varnish, 12. Artist takes old books and gives them new life as intricate.
We adore a good literary ted talk around here on the riot. A world of openings, university of melbourne collections, issue 6. By cynthia betubiza, ella dawson and kate torgovnick may session 1 of tedyouth 2014 brought us to many worlds imagined. Brian dettmer takes discarded books, sculpting and carving them into remixes, and explains how he does it in a newly shared ted talk. Brian dettmer book sculptures the brooklyn refinery. Go deeper into fascinating topics with original video series from ted. Brian dettmer old books reborn as art posted feb 2015 more news and ideas from brian dettmer. New yorkbased artist brian dettmer cuts into old books with xacto knives and turns them into. The website recently featured a talk by one of my favorite book artists, brian dettmer.
Popular ted talks books meet your next favorite book. Tedtalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the ted conference, where the worlds leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less. With xacto knives and an eye for a good remix, artist brian dettmer. To create new art, brian dettmer trashes old books.
First given at tedyouth in november 2014 but posted to the educational forums main website on february 6, old books reborn as intricate art sees dettmer explore his own approach to an unusual form of literary art. Artist brian dettmer is using old books to create beautiful art. Old books reborn as art takes outdated reference materials such as textbooks and encyclopedias, seals them with varnish, then carves away at their pages with an xacto knife. Image courtesy of the artist brian dettmer book art created with surgical tools. This book is ultimately about discovering what moves you and then creating the means of moving others with your vision. Paper manipulation 1 2002 and butterflies 2012 both by louisa boyd. It was the month of june, the morning sun was emerging. In a talk for ted youth last year, dettmer described his process as a remix because hes working with someone elses art in the way. Participatory budgeting seems at first like a dry, wonkish idea for dispersing funds into a community, but it is really a unique way to drive citizen involvement deep into the taproots of democracy. In this ted talk, he breaks down his creative process, love of the book, and all of that with a witty sense of humor. My year reading a book from every country in the world. Any time that we share old book crafts, we get at least a couple of. Talk like ted is a smart, practical book that will teach you how to give a kickbutt presentation. We were intrigued by brians work and after a closer look, we were astounded by the care and remarkable attention to detail put into each piece.
A book is not just a collection of static words on a page, but an evolving organism a machine and a landscape. Continuing that theme, heres a ted talk from artist brian dettmer, who painstakingly carves old books into amazing sculptures. A decade of book sculpture, produced by antonio chiavacci for the hermann geiger foundation. Was macht man mit alten lexika im digitalen zeitalter. Why you should listen new yorkbased artist brian dettmer carves intricate sculptures from outdated materials like encyclopedias, textbooks, maps and cassette tapes. Dettmer knifes through books swiftly from cover to cover to reveal images that explore our relationship to information. Book art this ted talk by artist brian dettmer in 2014 explores his use of books ed material. Brian dettmer born 1974 is an american contemporary artist. Brian dettmer was born in 1974 in chicago, illinois, and lives and works in brooklyn, new york. By working with books, i want people to really look at the physicality, really look at the architecture and the structure of the information that we have had experiences with in the past and really question whats happening now that. Last weeks video was a meditation on letterpress printing and the book as a physical object. Dettmer knifes through books swiftly from cover to cover to reveal images that explore.
He covers the repairs now underway and what the future holds for the largest science experiment ever attempted. Artist carves intricate worlds in the pages of books. In her note in bookriot, nikki steele takes brian dettmers ted talk remark that books are created to relate to our human scale and builds on it elegantly, if all too briefly, by bringing together the installation works literature versus traffic, scanner, book cell, singularity, biographies and contemporaries. The book surgeon pieces my modern metropolis cooling and air, altered book, x x by brian dettmer. You can hear brian talk about his work in the ted talk brian dettmer. With xacto knives and an eye for a good remix, artist brian dettmer makes beautiful, unexpected sculptures that breathe new life into old books. Home fair use research guides at elizabethtown college. The ted talks channel features the best talks and performances from the ted conference, where the worlds leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less. With xacto knives and an eye for a good remix, artist brian dettmer makes beautiful, unexpected sculptures that breathe new. A metaphorical and sculptural autopsy has been performed to investigate the conditions that led to the books demise and the potential consequences of. In this short talk from ted u 2009, brian cox shares whats new with the cern supercollider. In addition to a little shop talk about his process, brian shared about what led him to wholeheartedly pursue fine arts, how he made the transition from having a day job into. Check out his ted talk about what he does and why he does it crafting with old books is controversial in the upcycling world. In his talk brian shares to us his art he creates out of books, pretty self explanatory in the title.
See a gallery of his intricate, breathtaking creations. A decade of book sculpture, produced by antonio chiavacci for the hermann geiger foundation feature on cbs evening news an interview with renee of the band elk city discussing how they came to feature the piece house of tongues on the cover of their album of the same name. He is noted for his alteration of preexisting mediasuch as old books, maps, record albums, and. This ted talk that is presented by brian dettmer is called old books reborn as art. The power of introverts in a world that cant stop talking by susan cain, we should all be feminists by chimamanda ngo. Brian dettmer, the cemetery of forgotten books exhibition catalogue, barcelona. Brian dettmer is an artist and his preferred form of art is cutting up books. The talk runs six minutes and delivers more than the average ted talk does in 17. Artist brian dettmer digs into a good book literally, with a knife to create beautifully intricate forms that reflect how we see old information in a modern world.
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