Book vs. Knife vs. World

The book business has been in trouble for quite some time now thanks to the glorious digitalisation of…well, everything. No longer are books the prestigious technology, able to transport knowledge in the most effective manner. Instead, we have the internet where information, books and beyond are a mere click away, ready to be viewed on our personal computer screens.

The tangible book, it has long been predicted, is a dying art form, slowly being eroded by newer and more efficient internet technologies. Artist, Brian Dettmer from Chicago, in his ‘book autopsies’ demonstrates this erosion in its most metaphorical sense in his body of work, Adaptations.

Antonia Peacock writes, “As content morphs into miniature geologic landscapes, the natural physicality of the book is accentuated. We experience these deconstructed books as fragile, organic matter that cannot escape eventual decomposition.”

Images via Packer Schopf Gallery

Another, somewhat more optimistic reading of the works is that the intricate sculptural designs carved into the books are symbolic of the depth of meaning present in a printed work, one which is only distinguishable after much carving and cutting away at the physical form. 

For book lovers, on the other hand, it seems like an almost bible-burning pursuit, one which is destroying beloved stories and words of the authors.

Check out more of Brian Dettmer’s work at the Packer Schopf Gallery here.