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Monday, September 19, 2011

The Matter of Words - Kirstin Gunn

I walked around the the exhibit and as much as I wanted to find something I liked as much as the stack of books I kept turning around and looking at that one.
What stood out to me the most was the personal touches of the books in the stack. It looks like he literally stole them off someone's nightstand or of a child's bookshelf. Some of them had bookmarks, or papernotes sticking out of them. I liked that because that is the way we see the books we enjoy the most. That was create to me, because it was able to give more meaning to those that viewed it.
I have no idea how he really came up with the idea, but maybe he was trying to figure out a different way of displaying book besides putting them on a bookshelf. I mean the pile doesn't make for easy access to the books. But if he is anything like me, he doesn't read the same book twice.
All of the pieces were creative because they took something we all are very familiar with and made them into something you wouldn't expect. Books are something we have contact with everyday, and have grown up learning how to appreciate the stories inside them, but its nice to appreciate there physical features as well.

2 comments:

  1. I like what you said how books are something that we are all familiar with and the artist took that familiarity and gave us a new way to look at books and the printed word. Word.

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  2. I agree. I could have looked at that stack of books for hours. Some of them had the previous owners names written on the side. So much character in each book, but they combine to make something really amazing.

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