Well Read: Visual Explorations of the Book
With the increase of information being accessed online, the book鈥檚 role as a repository of knowledge is shifting. Its tactile object qualities as well as the emotional connections provoked by books are inspiring photographers to interact with them in myriad ways.
Conceptualization around the book itself鈥攕uch as altering its physicality to create a sculptural object, to artists documenting the evidence of the life and journey of the book, to the content of the book informing the artist鈥檚 interpretation鈥攔eveals internal landscapes, humor, nostalgia and mystery.
Doug Keyes examines the turning of the pages and captures layers of knowledge stacked upon itself over time, leaving an impression of collective memory for the viewer. Paul Sundberg shows cumulative highlights by multiple readers on the pages of 鈥淗owl鈥 by Allen Ginsburg. Kent Rogowski鈥檚 photograph of a compilation of books with rainbows covers creates a larger portrait of human emotion and hope. Mary Ellen Bartley and Cara Barer explore books at close range, revealing striated, abstract compositions; Kerry Mansfield鈥檚 Expired series celebrates the journey library books have traveled, and creates a portrait of the communal evidence left behind.
Well Read explores artistic interpretation of the book as an object in a multitude of forms and observations.
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With the increase of information being accessed online, the book鈥檚 role as a repository of knowledge is shifting. Its tactile object qualities as well as the emotional connections provoked by books are inspiring photographers to interact with them in myriad ways.
Conceptualization around the book itself鈥攕uch as altering its physicality to create a sculptural object, to artists documenting the evidence of the life and journey of the book, to the content of the book informing the artist鈥檚 interpretation鈥攔eveals internal landscapes, humor, nostalgia and mystery.
Doug Keyes examines the turning of the pages and captures layers of knowledge stacked upon itself over time, leaving an impression of collective memory for the viewer. Paul Sundberg shows cumulative highlights by multiple readers on the pages of 鈥淗owl鈥 by Allen Ginsburg. Kent Rogowski鈥檚 photograph of a compilation of books with rainbows covers creates a larger portrait of human emotion and hope. Mary Ellen Bartley and Cara Barer explore books at close range, revealing striated, abstract compositions; Kerry Mansfield鈥檚 Expired series celebrates the journey library books have traveled, and creates a portrait of the communal evidence left behind.
Well Read explores artistic interpretation of the book as an object in a multitude of forms and observations.