Altering a book page is a daunting concept; reconstructing and altering an entire book is a formidable test.  Even when using cast-off books that are about to be recycled, one is faced with the unnerving sensation of involvement in a destructive rather than a creative act.  Through thoughtfully considered and concentrated efforts, repetitive actions such as folding, cutting, scoring, curling, punching, incising, and shredding have altered the book’s original function as an object of information and have transformed it into something new.  (Deborah Dancy)

Altered books created by students in Professor Deborah Dancy’s first year studio foundation class will be on display from March 2 to March 20 in the Reading Room lobby of Archives and Special Collections.  Come in and allow these altered books to lead you in your own consideration of the form and function of the modern book.

The breadth and variety of works speak to the diversity of interpretations that can be made about the book as an object of information and of art.  Students draw inspiration from nature – cascading waterfalls, leaves, feathers, flowers, and rolling seas – as well as from the clean lines of geometry and the rhythm of repetitive shapes.

Some of the students cut into the books, suggesting, perhaps, that to understand the book as information and as art one must immerse oneself into the very substance of the book.   Other students chose to alter the books so that they expanded beyondtheir original physical boundaries, transforming the printed page into a three-dimensional sculpture.

– Lauren Silverio

Lauren Silverio is an English and Psychology major and student employee in Archives and Special Collections.