Words of Art

Many of the older encyclopedias in my collection are damaged due to the lack of care. Many of these old tomes have been sitting in garages collecting dust. Sometimes, I had to cut the books to get a helpful section. This particular work of art is from half a book in a series I'm dubbing, A Mini-Bookcarved Artwork. It's from Funk and Wagnall's 1948 series with an Irish King's face, some buildings, and the Egyptian wall drawing as a contrast between the black and white imagery of newer people and items, yet the colorful portion is from a more ancient time.

Shane uses aged reference books deemed useless, like medical guides, journals, and encyclopedias, to bring new life to books that would otherwise be discarded. Glue seals the pages in their original printed location decided by the publisher, leaving the page revelations to the artist's imagination. Layers are removed to reveal images randomly. With no plan, the artist simply finds an exciting image, carves around the photo, diagram, or drawing, and adds cut lines, insets, and other random elements to provide an artistic view into the past, the book, and the pages as intended by the printer. Exposing the images in their original form, location, and placement on the page gives the viewer a greater appreciation of printed material from the Gilded Age when print media was mass-produced and information became readily available before today's digital format. Each page is carved delicately with stainless steel hardened medical scalpels to create a three-dimensional effect.

Shane uses old discarded printed material to bring new life to an item usually destined for the trash bin, landfill, or growing mold in some attack or basement.