For over seventeen years I have transformed used books into sculptures through a wide range of artistic approaches. Working with the nature of the books that I find, I’m interested in delving into the internal landscapes of books to create new narratives.
Giving new life to the old, I have high-fired books in kilns with no clay intervention to create “Fossilized” Book Remnants. I have soaked, dried and screwed books together into tree-like forms for my Volumes Series 2001, and I’ve immersed books in inks and re-scrambled the books’ components to create book sculptures that tell a new story.
More info: jacquelinerushlee.com
Anthologia 2007
Transformed literary Asian texts.
Vascellum 2012
Transformed graphic design books with encyclopedic covers.
Flutter 2007
Devotion series
Nous Detail 2014
Manipulated philosophy book. Made with ink and graphite.
Lorem Ipsum III
A reworking of the book “The Ten Bamboo Studio” Chinese masterpiece woodcuts.
Crescere 2013
Manipulated book components, encyclopedias made with inks.
Made In China Series 2012 – Present
Made In China Detail 2012
Ode To Anselm 2013
Manipulated book components.
Made In China Series 2012
Lorem Ipsum II 2010
Manipulated Asian literary texts with hand-stitched surface elements and splashed sumi-e ink.
Endoskeleton 2000
Fired book
Unfurled 2007
Manipulated book components.
Bookmark Slice 2001
Soaked, dried, scraped, reformulated book components.
Cube 2001
Soaked, dried, scraped, manipulated book components.
Lorem Ipsum III 2010-2012
Summer reading series.
Made In China Series 2012
Book Of R’s 2001
Manipulated book components.
Artist Holding Nous 2014
Transformed philosophy book.
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There are SO many books sitting around in thrift shops and in landfills. There are water damaged books, moldy books, burnt books, books with many pages missing. There are books which have HORRIBLY racist and prejudiced matter in them, there are books which are outdated and have no historical purpose. I could print out an article from the internet and make art out of it and no one would bat an eye, but if I use a book, suddenly everyone has a negative opinion about it just because they believe EVERY book is sacred. When you have a viewpoint like that, it means that classic literature and something some awful scumbag wrote to put down someone's culture are both "sacred", and that couldn't be further from the truth.
I love the sculptures, but them being made out of books feels wrong to me. They were already art.
Inspiring! The artist really opened my eyes to the world of book sculpture.
I have seen many types of of these "using books as art materials" types of projects over the last few years, and there is something that I don't understand about the entire concept.........Why are people trashing these books in the first place? Are people just not reading anymore? What is going on here?
There are millions, billions of books in existence in the world - as the commenter above said, not all copies of all books are sacred. I don't think this has to do with trashing anything, I think it's taking something that would otherwise sit buried in a back room somewhere, and making it into something lovely and unexpected.
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Art that you just REALLY want to touch. The struggle is real. Also, I am 5 years old.
In "Bookmark Slice" & "Book of R's, I like the way that books are returned to their 'origins'. Makes one think.
There are SO many books sitting around in thrift shops and in landfills. There are water damaged books, moldy books, burnt books, books with many pages missing. There are books which have HORRIBLY racist and prejudiced matter in them, there are books which are outdated and have no historical purpose. I could print out an article from the internet and make art out of it and no one would bat an eye, but if I use a book, suddenly everyone has a negative opinion about it just because they believe EVERY book is sacred. When you have a viewpoint like that, it means that classic literature and something some awful scumbag wrote to put down someone's culture are both "sacred", and that couldn't be further from the truth.
I love the sculptures, but them being made out of books feels wrong to me. They were already art.
Inspiring! The artist really opened my eyes to the world of book sculpture.
I have seen many types of of these "using books as art materials" types of projects over the last few years, and there is something that I don't understand about the entire concept.........Why are people trashing these books in the first place? Are people just not reading anymore? What is going on here?
There are millions, billions of books in existence in the world - as the commenter above said, not all copies of all books are sacred. I don't think this has to do with trashing anything, I think it's taking something that would otherwise sit buried in a back room somewhere, and making it into something lovely and unexpected.
Load More Replies... Art that you just REALLY want to touch. The struggle is real. Also, I am 5 years old.
In "Bookmark Slice" & "Book of R's, I like the way that books are returned to their 'origins'. Makes one think.
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