Carved Book Art: Pretty or Pointless?

by AdriHead Posted 2012/07/02 21:05:29

Related Topics: Book Carving, Book Carving Art, Art, Brian Dettmer, Drawing, Painting, Unique Art

349 votes
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	Pretty	314 votes	90%
	Pointless	35 votes	10%

Get a load of this unique art! Brian Dettmer isn't your average artist. Rather than painting a portrait or drawing a sketch, he makes his art by intricately carving books using knives, tweezers and any other crafty tools he can find. His work is unlike any other... to say the least. Are you into the detailed book carvings? Or do you think it's kind of pointless?Artist Brian Dettmer uses surgical tools to carve up old encyclopedias, dictionaries, and medical journals. No materials are added and nothing inside the books are relocated, he simply carves the existing paper, one page at a time.

+21

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Inquisitve Kat 2012/07/03 03:04:27

Pretty

+11
Art is never "pointless".
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More polls by AdriHead

alanh 2012/07/03 13:52:16

Pretty

+1
I am sure he could find a great resource in Tax law books...Good thing to make into something appealing!!

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Gloria 2012/07/03 12:59:44

Pretty

Dettmer's work is astonishly beautiful.
It's interesting how some of those who love books failed to read that the books he carves are "old encyclopedias, dictionaries, and medical journals" that would have ended up the trash anyway.
I simply detest repeating our hateful & rude junior high social studies teacher but here goes. He put this sign on the front of his desk...
READ AND COMPREHEND

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FELINE GESTURES IN THE DARK 2012/07/03 12:20:20

Pretty

Keep them away from book worms .

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.: LiVi :. 2012/07/03 11:58:30

Pretty

+2
How can you call it pointless just because it's not painted on a canvas? All art is pretty and pointless, everything's pretty pointless

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Tiah 2012/07/03 10:34:50

Pretty

It's an art so i think yes also it looks awesome

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the fuze 2012/07/03 10:23:11

Pretty

+1
I like it.

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Skye 2012/07/03 09:44:14

Pretty

+1
Wow! Amazing!

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artistheweapon 2012/07/03 09:21:22

Pretty

+1
but totally ridiculous! im so jealous of anyone who can pull that off

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Hirnungah Mancandy 2012/07/03 08:13:24

Pretty

PRETTY is the point of art ; people simply use it to MAKE a point .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Z E N ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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nightcrawler2005 2012/07/03 08:09:06

Pretty

+1
Creating beauty is Never pointless.

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♡Short Sparkley Ginger♡ 2012/07/03 07:24:21

Pretty

+1
Amazing

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Kaola 2012/07/03 07:06:52

Pointless

It scares me.

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Xksana 2012/07/03 06:36:56

Pretty

+1
It is pretty, but I hope its his books he is carving, I mean hope is is the author of that book, lol

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BoomLover 2012/07/03 06:29:33

Pretty

+2
Looks pretty nice to me.........

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beach bum 2012/07/03 05:44:16

Pretty

+2
cool

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acid 2012/07/03 05:32:59

Pretty

+1
me like >.< but i don't like the fact that he's destroying old books

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Lyana 2012/07/03 03:53:11

Pretty

+3
If someone actually took time and preparation to create something beautiful for others or simply for their own enjoyment, it's never pointless. PERIOD.

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KarenInKenoshaWisconsin 2012/07/03 03:11:49

Pretty

+2
That's some pretty impressive stuff.

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Bibliophilic 2012/07/03 03:08:24

Pretty

+3
Amazing! Although as a bibliophile I lament the loss of the books themselves. However, many people throw away old encyclopedias once they are no longer current- this is much better than trashing them!

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Inquisitve Kat 2012/07/03 03:04:27

Pretty

+11
Art is never "pointless".

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America... to Inquisi... 2012/07/03 15:41:21

However, it's often meaningless

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nico to... to America... 2012/07/04 20:44:52

The meaning of something is often subjective to each individual. For example, it may not be meaningless to the artist.

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America... to nico to... 2012/07/04 23:40:14

I love art and have full appreciation for it, but I've heard some hardcore bs about what artists claim their crap "means"

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Luna Wren 2012/07/03 02:48:42

Pointless

+2
Its pointless but pretty

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Melody 2012/07/03 01:56:57

Pretty

+2
I LOVE this stuff :D

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flyingseaturtle BN 2012/07/03 01:47:17

Pretty

+2
I like it ;-)

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~HopelessRomanticM17~ 2012/07/03 01:45:28

Pretty

+2
Just because something is pointless, it doesn't mean it can't be pretty....

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JohnT 2012/07/03 01:42:48

Pretty

+2
Art comes in many varied ways, from spray paint cans on walls called murals to even a etch a sketch or sand at the beach turned into a great scene. This is just a different form

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BoomLover to JohnT 2012/07/03 06:28:03

+1
Spray paint on walls is called grafitti, and it almost always lowers the value of homes and buildings it is sprayed on. On the other hand, if sprayed on the concrete walls of the river beds in Southern California, it does look better than dull concrete walls....

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JohnT to BoomLover 2012/07/03 15:52:27

+1
I agree there is a difference between art and graffiti, but seeing most of the mess is put up there by bloods and crips I don't think I will clean it up unless I have a AK47 with me.

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sabre2th1 to BoomLover 2012/07/03 20:47:51

unless its a banksy or something, then the building would increase in value quite alot

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MlssCue =Go Blue= 2012/07/03 01:42:42

Pointless

+1
I personally find it gaudy but to each their own.

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Glitter Baby 2012/07/03 00:35:16

Pretty

+3
I wish I could do that! :)

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Aperson 2012/07/03 00:05:06

Pretty

+1
It is pretty, but I can't help but think it is a waste of a perfectly good book.

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BlairCat 2012/07/03 00:00:10

Pretty

+3
can art be pointless?

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sally 2012/07/02 23:53:14

Pretty

I wish I could do that with my dictionary.

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missnamecaller 2012/07/02 23:27:55

Pointless

+2
It's pointless yet spontaneous. Art normally needs the element of surprise and this sure as heck has it.
Gosh, that had to have taken forever! I love it! Determination is something I don't have for art anymore. This guy was committed.

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Remlit 2012/07/02 23:20:21

Pretty

+3
It's not less sensible than any other type of art -- and I wouldn't call any art senseless. I think it's beautiful and original :)

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Linkums 2012/07/02 23:09:31

Pretty

+2
I might argue that everything is pointless, but relatively speaking, it isn't any more pointless than other things.

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Wren77 2012/07/02 23:07:58

Pretty

+1
If you can do this, be sure to use an outdated book. I have seen this art form before and it is outstanding.

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