Altering pages and books is one of my passions. I ignore the shrieks of horror as I rip pages from old tomes, mash them into pulp for papier mache, and cut shadow boxes into glued manuals. Before
you contact the book police, I only use old books which I source from junk shops, charity shops and car boot sales. These books are often falling apart anyway, and I am giving them a new lease of life as an artwork.
My journey into the world of altered books has only recently begun. I have featured some of my resulting creations on this page. Below are some fantastic examples of altered book artists and altered art makers sourced from the internet.
Facebook (2009)
The Master Mummer (2010)
A slightly new direction for me - I take the inside pages out of the book which I then roll to make containers. Then I sew together blank pages to create a notebook inside the original cover.
Theatre book
Decorated books
Green Bottom Ripple (2009)
Some examples of my first attempts to alter books.
History book (2009)
This was an experiment made from a book about an Indian Priestess. Click on the images for a larger view.
Brian Dettmer sculpts books to show the images on the inside. This creates a stunning 3D effect.
Tom Phillips created The Humument from a copy of a Victorian novel which he bought for threepence (yes, it was rather a long time ago) The book, was originally called A Human Document and was written by 19th century author W H Mallock. Over many years, Tom Phillips altered the pages - giving each a unique new look. And in the 1980s his work in progress became a cult classic. The fourth edition is available from Thames & Hudson.
There are some brilliant book artists who have inspired me in my attempts to create altered books. This page is a tribute to some of them.
(Double click on the images for a bigger view.)
* I have taken these images from the internet via Google, purely to showcase other artists who have unique talents when it comes to altering books.
Above are some images simply sourced via Google images with the search criteria 'altered books'. These are just a few of the wonderful, exciting and fascinating images. From left to right are works by Gabe Cyr, Jennifer Hibbard, Nicholas Jones, Cara Barer and an un-named artist.
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