Brian Dettmer, The Book Surgeon

One of Dettmers favorite pieces is “New Books of Knowledge” (above). He had been working on single books and began to experiment with combining multiple books around 2007. This was one of his first projects that combined a complete set of encyclopedias into one single piece.

The artist is best known for his intricate transformations of old books, especially large encyclopedias and dictionaries. After reviewing the contents, working with knives and tweezers he excavates, delicately, page by page, down into the book. He selectively cuts away and exposes sections of each page’s text and pictures to create a three-dimensional sculpture that gives a new interpretation of each book.

http://briandettmer.com/