What else would you cover an electrical transformer that sits in front of the Library Place apartments, and is adjacent to the Everett Public Library, then with a book sculpture?It's called the "Book Stack" and it stands 8-feet-tall and 12-feet-wide. It is composed of fiberglass and comprised of seven books that were "chosen to acknowledge themes for urban renewal" says developer Craig Skotdal. Titles included are: A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and Leaves...
A Book Artist Takes to the Stage: Su Blackwell as Set Designer
Su Blackwell is a master papercut artist. She is best known for her intricate paper sculptures that emanate from books. Her work appears in many of the A-level book art exhibits around the world and has been used for various book and magazine covers. Last holiday season Blackwell moved from the confines of the codex to design the set for the Charles Way adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale The Snow Queen at London's Rose Theatre. Poster for The Snow Queen. Designs by Su BlackwellGiven that much of her book work is derived from the realm of fairy-tales and...
The Last Bookstore Show? Larry McMurtry downsizes
Booked Up, the famed book city created by Larry McMurtry, is about to significantly decrease its footprint in Archer City, Texas.In August a public auction will be held on site to release 350,000 books into the wild. The announcement, which was posted on Booked Up's website, makes it clear that this is less a negative event then an opportunity for many of the books McMurtry has acquired through his long bookselling career to find new homes. Over the years McMurtry has secured the inventory of 26 bookshops and close to 200 personal libraries. I suspect that since the advent and...
Richard Prince: Book Pirate?
“This is an artwork by Richard Prince. Any similarity to a book is coincidental and not intended by the artist.” © Richard Prince - so says the colophon.Richard Prince has made a very good living out of appropriating and transforming material from the cultural ether. So why not take what many believe is the quintessential American coming of age novel and make it his own.With the exception of the title page Prince's "sculpture" is an exact facsimile of the first edition with the second issue dust jacket (lacking the author photo). The dust jacket text reads: “Anyone who has read...
George Herms, Joseph Conrad and The Librarian
The Librarian, 1960. Assemblage: wood box, papers, books, loving cup, and painted stool57 x 63 x 21 in. (144.8 x 160 x 53.3 cm)George Herms emerged from the heart of the Beat Generation to become one of the founding artists of the California Assemblage movement. Three years after assembling his first piece or "junk sculpture" he began a series of works based on real people and places.One of the first pieces in the series and now considered one of his most important was The Librarian. During a visit to the local library in Larkspur, California where Herms lived for a...