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I don't think this is the first time that I've seen a book used as a carving medium; however, this is perhaps the most impressive example of it that I remember.

Now, I have no idea if this requires the artist – in this case, Canadian Guy Laramee – to glue just the books together, or the books and all the pages, or what, to prepare for something like this, but the results are stunning. The one pictured above really stands out to me as the lighting of the building/cavern is perfect. Clicking the image above will display a much higher resolution version of the sculpture, showing you the detail work on the cavern walls, etc.

I love the imperfect nature of the medium; the way that the pages are tattered and worn and bent. I would think that doing something like this would be very, very dusty work and the idea of working in any reductive medium like this – as, I guess, almost any scupture work would be – frightens me. Dig a little too much in an area, and you can't just put it back. Patience.

There are many more examples of similar works on Laramee's site; click the "The Great Wall" and "Biblos" links under the "Recent Work" header for a look.

» Found at: Guy Laramee's Portfolio site