Artists turn discarded books into works of art

Written by Susan Wolf
Friday, 13 August 2010 11:52

Some books are valuable because of their age. The remnants of discarded books that are not recyclable now on display at the Mark Twain Library are art!

To kick off the library’s 50th annual book fair, June Myles, its chair, decided on the exhibit, “Altered Books as Art.” Several weeks ago she invited artists and creative book lovers “to take a discarded book and transform it into a work of art.” Some 15 people took up the challenge.

The centerpiece of the monthlong show is a bust of Mark Twain made out of papier-mâché with a skeletal body composed of a tripod of books. Titled “In His Name,” the artwork was done by Joe DeMarco of Shelton. He delivered the artwork in a pickup truck because of its size.

There is also a collection of transformed texts by Rosalie Tisch, a former resident. She took discards from a former book fair “and folded them into incredible pieces of art,” said Ms. Myles.

Another artwork is “Magpie Nest” by Mel Arrington of Redding. Ms. Arrington hollowed out a book and used pieces from its pages for a nest. She added a large cutout of a magpie with a diamond ring in its mouth to complete the work.

The “Art of War” by Mike Seri uses pages from the book of the same title. The artist has used pages from the book to cover a small trunk. Mao Tse-tung’s photo is prominently displayed inside the trunk.

Both Gail Schiron, the town’s director of human services, and Marie Sibilio, center director, have art in the exhibit. Ms. Schiron’s is titled “On the Beach” and is a two-dimensional scene with sailboats and a lighthouse in the background. Ms. Sibilio’s “Bits and Pieces” is a collage of quilted squares made from book pages.

Betsy Davidson’s untitled work uses covers of books as a canvas for her art. “You would never know they are book covers,” said Ms. Myles.

Emma Thomas, 11, is the youngest artist in the show. She created a book collage. Mary Ann Minter’s “Autumn Bouquet” is flowers, grasses and a vase with book pages as the medium. Mary Phillips’ collage, “Cool Breezes,” is made of different pieces of paper and then painted.

“It’s very pictorial and realistic,” Ms. Myles said.

Sitting on an easel is a large canvas by Marian Schwinde Romano and Vladimir Romano. Pages from an English-to-German dictionary are used, and there is information from A to Z. The binding and cover of the dictionary are incorporated into the work.

“Hooked on Books” is Ms. Myles’ contribution to the exhibit. She created a bag from the cover of a book and then hooked handles for it from wool.

There are eight glass cases filled with about 50 pieces in the exhibit, which continues through Aug. 27.