TEDYouth 2014
Brian Dettmer: Old books reborn as art
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What do you do with an outdated encyclopedia in the information age? With X-Acto knives and an eye for a good remix, artist Brian Dettmer makes beautiful, unexpected sculptures that breathe new life into old books.
Brian Dettmer -
Artist Brian Dettmer digs into a good book (literally, with a knife) to create beautifully intricate forms that reflect how we see old information in a modern world. Full bio
Artist Brian Dettmer digs into a good book (literally, with a knife) to create beautifully intricate forms that reflect how we see old information in a modern world. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I'm an artist and I cut books.
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This is one of my first book works.
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It's called "Alternate
Route to Knowledge."
Route to Knowledge."
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I wanted to create a stack of books so
that somebody could come into the gallery
that somebody could come into the gallery
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and think they're just looking
at a regular stack of books,
at a regular stack of books,
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but then as they got closer they would
see this rough hole carved into it,
see this rough hole carved into it,
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and wonder what was happening,
wonder why,
wonder why,
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and think about the material of the book.
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So I'm interested in the texture,
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but I'm more interested in the text
and the images that we find within books.
and the images that we find within books.
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In most of my work, what I do is I seal
the edges of a book with a thick varnish
the edges of a book with a thick varnish
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so it's creating sort of a skin
on the outside of the book
on the outside of the book
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so it becomes a solid material,
but then the pages inside are still loose,
but then the pages inside are still loose,
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and then I carve
into the surface of the book,
into the surface of the book,
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and I'm not moving or adding anything.
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I'm just carving around
whatever I find interesting.
whatever I find interesting.
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So everything you see
within the finished piece
within the finished piece
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is exactly where it was
in the book before I began.
in the book before I began.
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I think of my work as sort of
a remix, in a way,
a remix, in a way,
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because I'm working with
somebody else's material
somebody else's material
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in the same way that a D.J. might be
working with somebody else's music.
working with somebody else's music.
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This was a book of Raphael paintings,
the Renaissance artist,
the Renaissance artist,
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and by taking his work
and remixing it, carving into it,
and remixing it, carving into it,
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I'm sort of making it into something
that's more new and more contemporary.
that's more new and more contemporary.
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I'm thinking also about breaking out
of the box of the traditional book
of the box of the traditional book
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and pushing that linear format,
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and try to push the structure
of the book itself
of the book itself
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so that the book can become
fully sculptural.
fully sculptural.
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I'm using clamps and ropes
and all sorts of materials, weights,
and all sorts of materials, weights,
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in order to hold things
in place before I varnish
in place before I varnish
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so that I can push the form
before I begin,
before I begin,
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so that something like this
can become a piece like this,
can become a piece like this,
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which is just made
from a single dictionary.
from a single dictionary.
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Or something like this
can become a piece like this.
can become a piece like this.
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Or something like this,
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which who knows what that's going to be
or why that's in my studio,
or why that's in my studio,
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will become a piece like this.
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So I think one of the reasons
people are disturbed by destroying books,
people are disturbed by destroying books,
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people don't want to rip books
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and nobody really wants
to throw away a book,
to throw away a book,
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is that we think about books
as living things,
as living things,
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we think about them as a body,
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and they're created
to relate to our body, as far as scale,
to relate to our body, as far as scale,
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but they also have the potential
to continue to grow
to continue to grow
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and to continue to become new things.
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So books really are alive.
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So I think of the book as a body,
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and I think of the book as a technology.
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I think of the book as a tool.
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And I also think of the book as a machine.
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I also think of the book as a landscape.
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This is a full set of encyclopedias
that's been connected and sanded together,
that's been connected and sanded together,
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and as I carve through it,
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I'm deciding what I want to choose.
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So with encyclopedias,
I could have chosen anything,
I could have chosen anything,
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but I specifically chose
images of landscapes.
images of landscapes.
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And with the material itself,
I'm using sandpaper
I'm using sandpaper
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and sanding the edges
so not only the images suggest landscape,
so not only the images suggest landscape,
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but the material itself
suggests a landscape as well.
suggests a landscape as well.
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So one of the things I do
is when I'm carving through the book,
is when I'm carving through the book,
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I'm thinking about images,
but I'm also thinking about text,
but I'm also thinking about text,
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and I think about them
in a very similar way,
in a very similar way,
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because what's interesting
is that when we're reading text,
is that when we're reading text,
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when we're reading a book,
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it puts images in our head,
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so we're sort of filling that piece.
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We're sort of creating images
when we're reading text,
when we're reading text,
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and when we're looking at an image,
we actually use language
we actually use language
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in order to understand
what we're looking at.
what we're looking at.
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So there's sort of
a yin-yang that happens,
a yin-yang that happens,
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sort of a flip flop.
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So I'm creating a piece
that the viewer is completing themselves.
that the viewer is completing themselves.
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And I think of my work
as almost an archaeology.
as almost an archaeology.
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I'm excavating and I'm trying
to maximize the potential
to maximize the potential
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and discover as much as I possibly can
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and exposing it within my own work.
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But at the same time,
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I'm thinking about this idea of erasure,
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and what's happening now that most
of our information is intangible,
of our information is intangible,
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and this idea of loss,
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and this idea that not only is the format
constantly shifting within computers,
constantly shifting within computers,
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but the information itself,
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now that we don't have a physical backup,
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has to be constantly updated
in order to not lose it.
in order to not lose it.
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And I have several dictionaries
in my own studio,
in my own studio,
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and I do use a computer every day,
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and if I need to look up a word,
I'll go on the computer,
I'll go on the computer,
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because I can go directly
and instantly to what I'm looking up.
and instantly to what I'm looking up.
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I think that the book was never really
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the right format
for nonlinear information,
for nonlinear information,
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which is why we're seeing reference books
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becoming the first to be
endangered or extinct.
endangered or extinct.
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So I don't think that the book
will ever really die.
will ever really die.
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People think that now that we have
digital technology,
digital technology,
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the book is going to die,
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and we are seeing things shifting
and things evolving.
and things evolving.
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I think that the book will evolve,
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and just like people said
painting would die
painting would die
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when photography and printmaking
became everyday materials,
became everyday materials,
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but what it really allowed painting to do
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was it allowed painting
to quit its day job.
to quit its day job.
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It allowed painting to not have to have
that everyday chore of telling the story,
that everyday chore of telling the story,
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and painting became free
and was allowed to tell its own story,
and was allowed to tell its own story,
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and that's when we saw Modernism emerge,
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and we saw painting
go into different branches.
go into different branches.
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And I think that's what's
happening with books now,
happening with books now,
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now that most of our technology,
most of our information,
most of our information,
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most of our personal and cultural
records are in digital form,
records are in digital form,
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I think it's really allowing the book
to become something new.
to become something new.
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So I think it's a very exciting time
for an artist like me,
for an artist like me,
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and it's very exciting to see what
will happen with the book in the future.
will happen with the book in the future.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Brian Dettmer -Artist Brian Dettmer digs into a good book (literally, with a knife) to create beautifully intricate forms that reflect how we see old information in a modern world.
Why you should listen
New York–based artist Brian Dettmer carves intricate sculptures from outdated materials like encyclopedias, textbooks, maps and cassette tapes. To create his works Dettmer seals the object with varnish, then swiftly and deftly moves through it with an X-Acto knife until he comes out the other side, cutting away material to form something new. His beautiful carvings reflect how, in a digital information landscape, even the oldest forms of knowledge can be repurposed.
More profile about the speakerBrian Dettmer | Speaker | TED.com