Su Blackwell and Book Arts - Su Blackwell và nghệ thuật chạm trên sách

If you are anything like me, and I know that many of you are (May God have mercy on your souls), the merest willful damage to a book is tantamount to abuse. I have never quite gotten over my childhood habit of anthropomorphizing objects. While my talk of trees and books and the various Objet d’art that inhabit my world and the relationship I have with them is more poetic license than waking delusion, there is still a very small part of that young lad who assumes that books, like people, have feelings too. Thus today’s Book Week post features art that is something of an enigma for me: I admire the work and am inspired by the creativity and at the same time I feel pangs of guilt over my attachment to each piece.

Today rather than spending a tremendous amount of time discussing each image, I am going to briefly showcase the artist and then allow you to enjoy their work.

Though it may be incongruous with the images, to keep the mood light (after all, I don’t want my Book Week posts making anyone cry) I will include various inspiring/funny quotes about books or reading between photos.

Prepare yourselves.

And we’re off.

The 12 Dancing Princesses

The first artist in today’s post was a serendipitous discovery courtesy of the recent Friday Favorite darling Anne-Julie Aubry. A visit to her blog not only revealed a tantalizing new Snow White picture (go look), it also introduced me to a new artist that fit in with this already planned post: Su Blackwell.

The Wizard of Oz

Much of the work of Su Blackwell certainly fits in with the fairytale and fantasy themes of the Once Upon a Time II Challenge.

The artist herself describes her work:

“Paper has been used for communication since its invention; either between humans or in an attempt to communicate with the spirit world. I employ this delicate, accessible medium and use irreversible, destructive processes to reflect on the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of our life, dreams and ambitions.

It is the delicacy, the slight feeling of claustrophobia, as if these characters, the landscape have been trapped inside the book all this time and are now suddenly released. A number of the compositions have an urgency about them, the choices made for the cut-out people from the illustrations seem to lean towards people on their way somewhere, about to discover something, or perhaps escaping from something. And the landscapes speak of a bleak mystery, a rising, an awareness of the air.”

Enjoy!

The Castle

“Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about the things in my pocket. But I found it would be too long; and the age of the great epics is past.”
~G. K. Chesterton

The Lake and the Boat

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
~C.S. Lewis

Magnolia Tree

“‘Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Alice–A Mad Tea Party

“A well-composed book is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way.”
~Caroline Gordon

Alice: Through the Looking Glass

“Whenever you read a good book, it’s like the author is right there, in the room talking to you, which is why I don’t like to read good books.”
~Jack Handy

The Land of Far Beyond, notice the people walking the path?

“We read to know we are not alone.”
~C.S. Lewis

Wintry: The World of Ice

“A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.”
~Franz Kafka

The Secret Garden

“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.”
~Paul Sweeney

The Beginning of Something

Su Blackwell is an incredibly talented artist, to be sure. Like previous Friday Favorite Thomas Allen (who would fit in quite will with today’s post) her work is as much about the wonderful creations as the way that they are lit and photographed/presented. I am so impressed by her work. You should certainly not be satisfied with these mere morsels. Go and visit her site to see many more examples of her unique vision.

The Old House

Brian Dettmer and paper art works - Brian Dettmer và nghệ thuật khắc trên sách

Dettmer is originally from Chicago. He currently resides in Atlanta, GA.	Dettmer người Chicago. Ông hiện đang cư trú ở Atlanta, GA.
Brian Dettmer is known for his detailed and innovative sculptures with books and other forms of antiquated media. He is currently represented by Kinz + Tillou (New York), Packer Schopf (Chicago), MiTO (Barcelona), Toomey Tourell (San Francisco) and Saltworks (Atlanta).	Brian Dettmer được biết đến với tác phẩm điêu khắc rất tỉ mỉ và đầy sáng tạo với chất lieu là những cuốn sách và các hình thức khác trên chất liệu cổ. Ông hiện đang đại diện bởi Kinz + Tillou (New York), Packer Schopf (Chicago), Mito (Barcelona), Toomey Tourell (San Francisco) và Saltworks (Atlanta).
Dettmer’s work has been exhibited Internationally in several galleries, museums and art centers including the Museum of Arts and Design (NY), Museum of Contemporary Art (GA), the International Museum of Surgical Science (IL), Museum Rijswijh (Netherlands), Wellcome Collection (England), the Bellevue Arts Museum (WA), The Kohler Arts Center (WI), and the Illinois State Museums (IL). His work can be found in several public and private collections throughout the U.S, Latin America, Europe, Australia and Asia.	Tác phẩm của Dettmer đã được triển lãm quốc tế tại nhiều phòng trưng bày, bảo tàng và trung tâm nghệ thuật bao gồm Bảo tàng Nghệ thuật và Thiết kế (NY), Bảo tàng nghệ thuật đương đại (GA), các Bảo tàng quốc tế Khoa học phẫu thuật (IL), Bảo tàng Rijswijh (Hà Lan), Bộ sưu tập Wellcome (Anh), Bảo tàng Nghệ thuật Bellevue (WA), Trung tâm nghệ thuật Kohler (WI), và Viện Bảo Tàng tiểu bang Illinois (IL). Tác phẩm của ông có thể được tìm thấy trong bộ sưu tập công cộng và tư nhân trên khắp Hoa Kỳ, Châu Mỹ La Tinh, Châu Âu, Úc và châu Á.
Dettmer’s work has gained International acclaim through internet bloggers, and traditional media. His work has been featured on the CBS Evening News, The New York Times (US), The Los Angeles Times (US), The Guardian (UK), The Telegraph (UK) Chicago Tribune (US), The Age (AU), Art News, Modern Painters, Wired, The Village Voice, Harper’s, Esquire and National Public Radio among others.	Tác phẩm của Dettmer đã đạt được sự khen ngợi quốc tế thông qua các blogger trên internet, và các phương tiện truyền thông truyền thống. Tác phẩm của ông đã được giới thiệu trên CBS Evening News, The New York Times (Mỹ), The Los Angeles Times (Mỹ), The Guardian (Anh), Telegraph (Anh), Chicago Tribune (Mỹ), The Age (AU), Tin tức Nghệ thuật, Họa sĩ hiện đại, Wired, The Village Voice, Harper, Esquire và Đài phát thanh công cộng quốc gia cùng với những đài báo khác.
In recent years Dettmer has established himself as one of the leading International contemporary artists working with the book today. In 2011 his work was featured on the cover of Book Art (Gestalten Publishers, Berlin) and discussed in a historical context in Bookwork (Stewart, The University of Chicago Press). In 2012 he is scheduled to have solo shows in San Francisco with Toomey Tourell Fine Art and The Jewish Community Center; in Maribor, Slovenia as part of its celebration as the European Cultural Capital of 2012; in Lucca, Italy for Cartasia, a biennale of contemporary paper art; and in Atlanta, GA at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. His work is also scheduled to be in several group shows including “40 under 40” at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute.	Trong những năm gần đây Dettmer đã xác lập tên tuổi như là một trong những họa sĩ quốc tế đương đại hàng đầu về điêu khắc sách. Năm 2011, tác phẩm của ông đã được giới thiệu trên trang bìa của Art Book (nhà xuất bản Gestalten, Berlin) và thảo luận trong một bối cảnh lịch sử tại Bookwork (Stewart, The University of Chicago Press). Vào năm 2012, ông dự kiến tiến hành triển lãm cá nhân ở San Francisco với Mỹ thuật Toomey Tourell và cộng đồng Trung tâm Do Thái, tại Maribor, Slovenia, như là một phần của kỷ niệm Thủ đô Văn hóa châu Âu năm 2012 tại Lucca, Ý Cartasia, một sự kiện được tổ chức hai năm một lần về nghệ thuật giấy đương đại; và tại Atlanta, GA ở Bảo tàng Nghệ thuật đương đại Georgia. Tác phẩm của ông cũng dự kiến ​​sẽ được triene lãm trong nhóm gồm nhóm "40 dưới 40 tuổi" tại Thư viện Renwick của Viện Smithsonian.
http://briandettmer.com/
Solo Exhibitions: Triển lãm cá nhân Brian Dettmer, Paper Back, November 4 – 20, 2011, Packer Schopf, 942 W. Lake Street, Chicago, IL Brian Dettmer, Altered Books, May 19, 2011 – June 11, 2011, Kinz Tillou, 526 West 26th St., Suite 416, New York, NY New Worlds to Conquer, November 20, 2010 – January 15, 2011, Saltworks, 664 11th Street NW, Atlanta, GA Ex Libris, May 27 – July 31, 2010, MiTO, Rosselló 193, Barcelona, Spain, Brian Dettmer- solo show at Impulse, December 3 – 6, 2009, Pulse Art Fair, The Ice Palace, 59 NW 14th Street, Miami, FL New Mixed Media, September 1 – 30, 2009, Toomey Tourell Fine Art, 49 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA Adaptations, April 3 – May 9, 2009, Packer Schopf, 942 W. Lake Street, Chicago, IL Brian Dettmer, May 3 – June 14, 2008, Kinz, Tillou Feigen, 529 W. 20th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, January 31 – March 8, 2008, MiTO, Rosselló 193, Barcelona, Spain, Brian Dettmer, October 23 – November 30, 2007, Elgin College, 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, IL Remixed Media, July 3 -– August 11, 2007, Toomey Tourell Fine Art, 49 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA Postoperative, February 2 – April 20, 2007, International Museum of Surgical Science, 1524 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL Remnants, January 15 – February 8, 2007, Harper College, 1200 W. Alqonquin Rd., Palatine, IL Second Nature, November 30, 2006 – January 6, 2007, Art & Idea, 529 W. 20th Street, Floor 7, New York, NY Altered States, December 9, 2005 – January 14, 2006, Aron Packer Gallery, 118 N. Peoria, Chicago, IL Book Work, July 15, 2004 – September 15, 2004, Digitas, 111 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL Book Work, Dissections and Excavations, November 21 – December 27, 2003, Aron Packer Gallery, 118 N. Peoria, Chicago, IL