Surrounded in bookishness

Book Adjacent

Jun 13

I wanted to share my latest altered book project, with the usual content warning that this kind of art does involve the disassembly of books! But I finally got around to “finishing” some of the bookshelves at the Butterflies & Aliens Library North…

I also preface this post with an apology that, in my sudden motivation to tackle this project, I neglected to take any proper ‘before’ photos. However, I was able to find a photo of when I first put the shelves in – eight years ago — that shows the exposed side that had greeted me ever since, every time I went into the library.

I acquired the three pictured shelves… and five and a half more just like them that now ring the room… when a friend was moving into new offices and they didn’t need these shelves in their new space configuration. For the cost of renting a van big enough to fit them all, I was able to start creating what became the main Butterflies & Aliens Library North reading room and, thanks to the pandemic, what also became the office in which I’ve spent a substantial proportion of my waking hours for the past many years.

But somehow, in all that time, finishing that exposed side just never made it to the top of the project list.

Until yesterday…

With a shout out to The Gilded Rabbit, my favourite local indie art supply store, the short story is that I finally just picked up a selection of glue and got started. And what was once bare unstained exposed sides of shelves became this…

and this…

Now, walking into the room or looking up from my desk, the bookishness of the environment is complete.

For those of you who are curious, the tribute book was one of the many editions of Frank Herbert’s Dune that I’ve acquired over the years, and one of two that happened to feature the same cover art. Also an edition with the dreaded “Now a major motion picture” label printed on it. Plus the larger trade paperback size also happened to be basically half the width of the exposed sides, so the choice was clear.

I should also note that one of the principles that I try to apply with all my altered book work is ensuring that I am not destroying something unique in the course of creating something new. And when it comes to Dune, rest assured that story lives on in multiple forms here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library.