Do you have old books stacked in your house which are just rotting away? Then you might want to use them as an artpiece or decor.

Several artists have used recycled, old books as a medium of artistic expression by converting them into book sculptures.

As you go through them, you will find some evocative art forms, while some you might not agree with as it involved cutting of paper and slicing books to make art. Actually its also an interesting topic of debate, but first some eccentric work of art.

Brian Dettmer does something really unique, which am sure many of us would have never heard of. He alters, dissects books, dictionaries etc., to create intricate three-dimensional work, which gives a unique interpretation of the book.

Dettmer connects words and images, which are otherwise pages apart, to disclose a different message. The one below is the 1947 New International Dictionary which Dettmer carved to show the images within the dictionary. Lot of hard work! How does he do it? First the edges of the book is sealed, and then the heavy work begins. He first carves through the cover, and then each page in order to expose the subject’s inner nature. He doesn’t add or alter, only strips away to redefine hisunveil newly formed compositions and relationships.

Its very intricately done, more like recreating the past and bringing it back to life. Lot of his work depends on the content of the book, so if its a history textbook then its more about how the past is told.
Photographer Cara Barer experimented with outdated reference books, and the result was very fractular. Jacqueline Rushlee, transformed recycled books into interesting objects and sculptures, like the one below, its a book roll, looks like the inner part of the trunk. This one reminded me of discarding an old yellow pages book and use it for a conceptual idea. An art out of shrunken Encyclopedia.

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