I came up to Michigan with several goals in mind, high amongst them is getting into the practice of doing more reading. Back in the day I was quite the voracious reader but haven't exactly been flexing that muscle as of late, with the exception of whatever might be the newest David Sedaris book.
That being said, I shipped an ambitious box-full up to camp and hope to knock out quite a few over the course of the summer… that's what days off and beaches are for, right? Many thanks especially to the two Catherine's (Couturier, my boss / Roberts, my aunt) for suggestions and loaning!
I'll certainly have more to say about some of them later but thought this would be the perfect time to empty out one of my favorites folder dedicated to our lexicological repositories (how's that for a pretentious euphemism for "book"!)
Self-described interdisciplinary artist Guy Laramée creates absolutely stunning sculptures out of books, inspired by nature, the death of his mother, history and a myriad of other topics. Hooks-Epstein, can you PUH-LEASE do a show?!? [found via io9]
Ryoanji
Untitled / Stupa (Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary)
Toronto, Canada's Type Books created this stop-motion short entitled "The Joy of Books" to champion the continued creation and purchasing of physical books (as opposed to the burgeoning eBook business). [found via BoingBoing]
Spanish artist Alicia Martin has created several site-specific installations in her Biografias series using 5,000+ books cascading from various windows of multistory buildings. Talk about word vomit!! [found via BoingBoing]
The artist inside one of her creations
Last March a staff member of the Scottish Poetry Library came across a beautifully carved art piece and an accompanying note written to the library's Twitter handle (@byleaveswelive):
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?)
Many believed this was just a "one-off" creation until another one showed up some time later at the National Library of Scotland, leading to many creations being found for months to come in many of Scotland's great institutions. There's a really fantastic review of the entire story, including photographs of all the discovered pieces, here. Was the mystery ever solved?!? [found via io9]
National Library of Scotland: from Ian Rankin's Exit Music / National Museum of Scotland: from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
To round out our literary themed post let's take a look at the Oscar winning animated short film from this years' 84th Annual Academy Awards. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessermore, by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, is described thusly by the production team: "Inspired in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, 'Morris Lessmore' is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor."
First up on my reading list, you ask? Neil deGrasse Tyson's Space Chronicles!
Artist: The Divine Comedy / Album: Promenade
