Mysterious Paper Sculptures Appear @ Edinburgh Library!

[3113]

This is pretty cool. From here:

One day in March, staff at the Scottish Poetry Library came across a wonderful creation, left anonymously on a table in the library. Carved from paper, mounted on a book and with a tag addressed to @byleaveswelive – the library’s Twitter account – reading:

"It started with your name @byleaveswelive and became a tree.… … We know that a library is so much more than a building full of books… a book is so much more than pages full of words.… This is for you in support of libraries, books, words, ideas….. a gesture (poetic maybe?)"

Next to the ‘poetree’ sat a paper egg lined with gold and a scatter of words which, when put together, make “A Trace of Wings” by Edwin Morgan.

There have been several more such paper sculptures left in the library, anonymously, since then. You can see them at the site there.

This one's my fave--

It includes a teabag filled with cut out letters, on the tag of which are the words “by leaves we live”. The cup on the top has a swirl of words which read ” Nothing beats a nice cup of tea (or coffee) and a really good BOOK”, and on the ‘tray’ next to the cupcake it says “except maybe a cake as well”.

Very much a sculpture that speaks to me

http://thisiscentralstation.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/paper_sculptures7.jpg

 

[glynndah]

wow!!!

 

[TE999]

Those sculptures are noting short of amazing. So much creativity and detail in each. They need to be grouped in a permanent exhibition somewhere. It would seem the 'Gramophone' sculpture has already been mislaid. How that could happen is beyond me, but we are talking librarians here.

 

[Stella_Omega]

A wonderful story!

 

[glynndah]

Those sculptures are noting short of amazing. So much creativity and detail in each. They need to be grouped in a permanent exhibition somewhere. It would seem the 'Gramophone' sculpture has already been mislaid. How that could happen is beyond me, but we are talking librarians here.

hey!!!

 

[TE999]

hey!!!

*snerk* j/k Good Witch.

 

[jomar]

Amazing.

I wonder if that traveling yard gnome is behind it.

 

[free_fall]

Amazing.

I wonder if that traveling yard gnome is behind it.

Damn yard gnomes.......he scares me

 

[sweetmoonbeam]

Absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.

And it wouldn't surprise me if it was a librarian behind it. They can be very sneaky.

 

[Handley_Page]

I hope they keep these on exhibition.

I got a load of pictures, in an e-mail, of just such clever and detailed work (origami stuff?) by Calvin Nichols.
http://cdn.bitrebels.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Wild-Life-Paper-Art-Creations-10.jpg

 

[3113]

I hope they keep these on exhibition.

I got a load of pictures, in an e-mail, of just such clever and detailed work (origami stuff?) by Calvin Nichols.
http://cdn.bitrebels.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Wild-Life-Paper-Art-Creations-10.jpg

Cool! And just to add, love the holiday hat and snowflakes, Handley. Very festive.

 

[Verdad]

Are the sculptures made from books and what message is the artist sending?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Are the sculptures made from books and what message is the artist sending?

Book art is a regular genre now, and they're doing some pretty amazing things. There's a good sample of here. The trend seems to have gained momentum as books become rarer and more iconic.

I like the ones that play with the basic idea of books, like

http://lh5.ggpht.com/abramsv/SN0L4FnrH8I/AAAAAAAAf4Y/tkraIIxIfO8/s640/e46utfgjghjghkj.jpg http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SN0L6xyTJpI/AAAAAAAAf5s/xvNayGwt0G0/s640/456urfghjgh.jpg

 

[sweetmoonbeam]

Book art is a regular genre now, and they're doing some pretty amazing things. There's a good sample of here. The trend seems to have gained momentum as books become rarer and more iconic.

Excellent point, and beautiful examples.

I think the fact that the artist is slipping them in and leaving them at the library anonymously is what makes the gesture so beautiful in my eyes, even more than the art itself. I can't say for certain, obviously; but I suspect it's not a random choice that they're being left in a library rather than an art museum. An interesting thought to mull over. At the very least, it is an astoundingly generous gift, poetic in itself.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Somewhere in Scotland lives a true genius. Blessings be thereon.

 

[Verdad]

The trend seems to have gained momentum as books become rarer and more iconic.

I like the ones that play with the basic idea of books, like

http://lh5.ggpht.com/abramsv/SN0L4FnrH8I/AAAAAAAAf4Y/tkraIIxIfO8/s640/e46utfgjghjghkj.jpg http://lh4.ggpht.com/abramsv/SN0L6xyTJpI/AAAAAAAAf5s/xvNayGwt0G0/s640/456urfghjgh.jpg

I was thinking something like that. Pretty stuff!

 

[oggbashan]

From a book dealer's perspective:

I see that some of the books are old, which makes the artist's work possible because the paper is thicker and less likely to deteroriate, but that they are not valuable books.

The Alice book is a battered 19th Century reprint, which would be a nice thing to own, but better editions/copies exist at low prices.

In principle I would object to destroying or damaging books to create art, but these books were not unique and not rare. What has been created far outweighs the destruction of a particular copy.

If I had the skill to do this, I would practise on Reader's Digest Condensed Books before using a real book.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

From a book dealer's perspective:

I see that some of the books are old, which makes the artist's work possible because the paper is thicker and less likely to deteroriate, but that they are not valuable books.

The Alice book is a battered 19th Century reprint, which would be a nice thing to own, but better editions/copies exist at low prices.

In principle I would object to destroying or damaging books to create art, but these books were not unique and not rare. What has been created far outweighs the destruction of a particular copy.

If I had the skill to do this, I would practise on Reader's Digest Condensed Books before using a real book.

I read the article on the library artist shortly after it happened, and she was leaving her work as a way of giving back to the library for what the library gives to the public. She left a certain number of pieces, and then a note thanking them and saying that would be it. She never identified herself and seemed a bit surprised by the attention she got

Some of the earliest book artists were motivated by the sight of huge stacks of old books being consigned to landfill or the flames. The books weren't worth anything monetarily and yet these artists recognized their symbolic value, so they turned them into an art that plays with the very meaning of books.

I had the same gut reaction as you the first time I saw a book sliced up and destroyed just to make a fussy little diorama. I'm a bibliophile too, and think that books are almost sacred, so it seemed downright sacrilegious. But then you realize that most of the art is actually celebratory and really kind of sweet.

 

[Handley_Page]

Personally, unless there is another copy or two of the book in close proximity, I really hate the idea of doing that to any book.

Take that copy of "Alice", for example. A child might well find that book pure magic, where a grown-up would treasure it, the child would READ it.

 

[oggbashan]

Personally, unless there is another copy or two of the book in close proximity, I really hate the idea of doing that to any book.

Take that copy of "Alice", for example. A child might well find that book pure magic, where a grown-up would treasure it, the child would READ it.

It has obviously been well-read and treasured - but a new hardback copy would be much better to give, to receive, and to read.

 

[JackLuis]

Are the sculptures made from books and what message is the artist sending?

I gave my best friend, Richard, a copy of Richard Nixon's last book, and Signed it, "From one Dick to another. RMN." He didn't see the Humor

 

[Verdad]

I gave my best friend, Richard, a copy of Richard Nixon's last book, and Signed it, "From one Dick to another. RMN." He didn't see the Humor

Did you tell him not to be a prick about it?