Books, so many possibilities...

Thursday 26 March 2015

Books, so many possibilities...

One of the joys of Art Circle being based in St Annes and Lytham Libraries is that we are surrounded by books. In preparation for the two local art festivals both groups have spent this week deconstructing, analysing and subsequently creating from these fabulous packages of information.

Title, author, publisher, ISBN, library code, genre symbol, price can all be starting points for an artwork and that's before we lift a knife. Protective sleeve, dust jacket, back, front, spine (plus colourful strengthening tape), blurb and at last, the pages.

We took a CSI cum archaeological approach to gathering all information and kept every part of the books along the way. Backs were identified as potential drawing boards or cutting boards, spines became straight edges for drawing, plastic sleeves became storage pockets and the pages became material or supports.

Like a pig, all parts of a book can be used...

The terminology of books is interesting too. Many parts relate to our bodies; spine, back, appendix, index... again all potential starting points for an artwork.

I should say at this point, the books we used had been withdrawn from the libraries.

The days of seeing books as something sacred began to change when printing became much more accessible and today when we can print anything in our own homes the printed word, although potentially still powerful in its message can be reproduced so easily. Using books as an art material can be mind stretching and a lot of fun.

Below are some works I found on line (apologies for not noting the makers) followed by our "have a go pieces". We will be extending and developing our ideas after the Easter Break.

Do join us if you fancy having a go.
Lytham Library, Wednesdays & St Annes Library, Thursdays
11 - 12.30pm
from 15th & 16th April respectively