If you're one of those book lovers who hates to see a spine cracked or a page dog-eared, you might find artist Brian Dettmer's work a bit unsettling. Personally, I think books should be -- and look -- as well-used as they are well-loved, so I don't mind wear and tear on my favorites. And I think anyone would agree that the vibrant, inventive art Dettmer makes with books is well worth the sacrifice made by the tomes in question.
The fascinating thing about Dettmer's art is that he uses only the books -- he doesn't add anything to them or even relocate elements within them. His work is created by bending, shaping, and stacking books, and cutting and excising their pages with surgical tools and tweezers. (Hence his nickname, "The Book Surgeon.") The result is intricate and breathtakingly beautiful works of art.
See more of Dettmer's work in this roundup by My Modern Metropolis, and read an interview with the artist here at the same site. And I owe a hat tip to Nathan Bransford's fabulous blog, where I found these links.
Ellen Henderson is a novelist and web strategist. She lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband and son.
