[Brian Dettmer] not your ordinary book

Brian Dettmer, Mound 3, 2008
4-1/2" x 10" x 10-3/4"
Image Courtesy of the Artist and Kinz + Tillou Fine Art

Brian Dettmer, Webs New Inner Dictionary, 2007
12" x 11-1/2" x 5"
Image Courtesy of the Artist and Kinz + Tillou Fine Art 

Brian Dettmer, Modern Painters (1873), 2008, Altered Books
9-1/8" x 7" x 6-3/4"
Image Courtesy of the Artist and Kinz + Tillou Fine Art

Brian Dettmer, Europa Samples, 2007, Altered Wallpaper Sample Book
14" x 18" x 1-3/4"
Image Courtesy of the Artist and Kinz + Tillou Fine Art

Exhibition Images, Ex Libris, May 27 - July 31, 2010, MiTO Gallery, Barcelona

Atlanta, GA
[Brian Dettmer Flickr]

“Old books, records, tapes, maps, and other media frequently fall into a realm that too much of today’s art occupies. Their intended role has decreased or deceased and they often exist simply as symbols of the ideas they represent rather than true conveyers of content. ... When an object's intended function is fleeting, the necessity for a new approach to its form and content arises.” (Valdez 2006). [wikipedia entry]

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I found Dettmer's Flickr by a chance and I am kind of torn (pun? well his books are cut, bended, folded.. not really torn.. lol); yes his works are amazing but the books... It was interesting to see he selected different types of books: old dictionaries, encyclopedias, art and architecture books, history books, atlases and even wallpaper sample books (these are very colourful, I like it).