Brian Dettmer: Old books reborn as intricate art

Prevoditelj: Izidora Zganjer Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

I'm an artist and I cut books.

Ja sam umjetnik i ja rezbarim knjige.

This is one of my first book works.

Ovo je jedan od mojih prvih radova.

It's called "Alternate Route to Knowledge."

Zove se "Alternativan put ka znanju".

I wanted to create a stack of books so that somebody could come into the gallery

Želio sam naslagati knjige tako da netko tko posjeti galeriju

and think they're just looking at a regular stack of books,

i pomisli kako gleda običnu hrpu knjiga,

but then as they got closer they would see this rough hole carved into it,

ali kada se približi vidi ovu grubo izrezanu rupu,

and wonder what was happening, wonder why,

i dok razmišlja o čemu se tu radi,

and think about the material of the book.

razmišlja i od čega je knjiga sazdana.

So I'm interested in the texture,

Dakle, mene zanimaju teksture,

but I'm more interested in the text and the images that we find within books.

ali više od toga me zanima tekst i slike koje nalazimo u knjigama.

In most of my work, what I do is I seal the edges of a book with a thick varnish

U većini mojih radova, lijepim rub knjige debelim slojem laka,

so it's creating sort of a skin on the outside of the book

koji ima ulogu pokrova vanjskog dijela knjige,

so it becomes a solid material, but then the pages inside are still loose,

i tako okvir postaje čvrst, a stranice iznutra ostaju mekane,

and then I carve into the surface of the book,

nakon toga rezbarim površinu knjige,

and I'm not moving or adding anything.

bez da mičem ili dodajem išta.

I'm just carving around whatever I find interesting.

Režem oko svega što mi je zanimljivo.

So everything you see within the finished piece

Sve što vidite u završenim djelima je na istome mjestu

is exactly where it was in the book before I began.

u knjizi gdje je i bilo kada sam počeo rezbariti.

I think of my work as sort of a remix, in a way,

Mislim da su moja djela neka vrsta remiksa

because I'm working with somebody else's material

jer ja radim s radovima drugih

in the same way that a D.J. might be working with somebody else's music.

na isti način na koji DJ radi s glazbom drugih glazbenika.

This was a book of Raphael paintings, the Renaissance artist,

Ovo je Rafaelova monografija, renesansnog umjetnika,

and by taking his work and remixing it, carving into it,

čiji rad sam rezbareći remiksirao

I'm sort of making it into something that's more new and more contemporary.

i tako učinio nešto što je novije i suvremenije.

I'm thinking also about breaking out of the box of the traditional book

Razmišljam o tome da izađem iz tradicionalnog okvira knjige

and pushing that linear format,

pomičući taj linearni format,

and try to push the structure of the book itself

pokušam pomaknuti strukturu same knjige,

so that the book can become fully sculptural.

tako da sama knjiga postane posve skulpturalna.

I'm using clamps and ropes and all sorts of materials, weights,

Koristim stezaljke i užad i druge materijale, utege,

in order to hold things in place before I varnish

kako bi ostali na mjestu prije lakiranja

so that I can push the form before I begin,

tako da mogu pomaknuti formu prije početka,

so that something like this can become a piece like this,

tako da na taj način ovako nešto postane ovakvo nešto,

which is just made from a single dictionary.

a nastalo je od običnog rječnika.

Or something like this can become a piece like this.

Ili nešto ovakvo može postati nešto ovakvo.

Or something like this,

Ili nešto ovakvo,

which who knows what that's going to be or why that's in my studio,

tko zna što će postati i zašto se nalazi u mojem studiju,

will become a piece like this.

postaje ovako nešto.

So I think one of the reasons people are disturbed by destroying books,

Mislim da je jedan od razloga zašto ljude uzrujava uništavanje knjiga,

people don't want to rip books

a nitko ne želi kidati knjige

and nobody really wants to throw away a book,

i nitko ne želi bacati knjige,

is that we think about books as living things,

je što knjige vidimo kao živa bića,

we think about them as a body,

razmišljamo o njima kao o tijelu,

and they're created to relate to our body, as far as scale,

one su stvorene kako bi se na neki način mi povezali s njima,

but they also have the potential to continue to grow

ali knjige, također, imaju potencijal za rast

and to continue to become new things.

i mogućnost postati nove stvari.

So books really are alive.

Dakle, knjige su zaista žive.

So I think of the book as a body,

Ja knjigu percipiram kao tijelo

and I think of the book as a technology.

i kao tehnologiju.

I think of the book as a tool.

Razmišljam o knjizi kao alatu.

And I also think of the book as a machine.

I razmišljam o knjizi kao uređaju.

I also think of the book as a landscape.

Također, razmišljam o knjizi kao pejzažu.

This is a full set of encyclopedias that's been connected and sanded together,

Ovo je cijeli set enciklopedija povezan i ošmirglan,

and as I carve through it,

i dok rezbarim kroz njih,

I'm deciding what I want to choose.

odlučujem što ću ostaviti.

So with encyclopedias, I could have chosen anything,

S enciklopedijama, mogu odabrati bilo što,

but I specifically chose images of landscapes.

ali sam se odlučio za slike pejzaža.

And with the material itself, I'm using sandpaper

Što se tiče samog materijala, a koristio sam šmirgl papir

and sanding the edges so not only the images suggest landscape,

kako bi izgladio rubove, tako da pejzaž ne čine samo slike,

but the material itself suggests a landscape as well.

nego da sam materijal bude pejzaž.

So one of the things I do is when I'm carving through the book,

Tako, kada rezbarim knjigu

I'm thinking about images, but I'm also thinking about text,

razmišljam o slikama, ali razmišljam i o tekstu,

and I think about them in a very similar way,

i vidim ih na sličan način,

because what's interesting is that when we're reading text,

jer zanimljivo je ds kada čitamo tekst,

when we're reading a book,

kada čitamo knjigu,

it puts images in our head,

stvara se slika u našoj glavi,

so we're sort of filling that piece.

tako da na neki način popunjavamo taj dio.

We're sort of creating images when we're reading text,

Na neki način stvaramo slike kada čitamo tekst

and when we're looking at an image, we actually use language

a kada gledamo slike, koristimo jezik

in order to understand what we're looking at.

kako bismo razumjeli što gledamo.

So there's sort of a yin-yang that happens,

Tu se događa nekakav yin-yang,

sort of a flip flop.

neka vrsta preklapanja.

So I'm creating a piece that the viewer is completing themselves.

Ja stvaram djela koja gledatelji popunjavaju sami.

And I think of my work as almost an archaeology.

Svoj rad vidim gotovo kao arheologiju.

I'm excavating and I'm trying to maximize the potential

Iskopavam i pokušavam maksimizirati potencijal

and discover as much as I possibly can

i otkriti što više mogu

and exposing it within my own work.

i izložiti to u mojim radovima.

But at the same time,

Ali u isto vrijeme,

I'm thinking about this idea of erasure,

razmišljam o ideji brisanja,

and what's happening now that most of our information is intangible,

i što se događa sada kada je većina naših informacija neopipljiva,

and this idea of loss,

a ideja gubitka,

and this idea that not only is the format constantly shifting within computers,

ideja da se konstantno ne mijenja samo format,

but the information itself,

nego i sama informacija,

now that we don't have a physical backup,

sada kada ne moramo imati fizički sve pohranjeno,

has to be constantly updated in order to not lose it.

i moramo stalno ažurirati kako ne bismo sve to izgubili.

And I have several dictionaries in my own studio,

Imam nekoliko rječnika u studiju,

and I do use a computer every day,

a koristim se računalom svakodnevno,

and if I need to look up a word, I'll go on the computer,

ako moram potražiti značenje riječi, tražiti ću na računalu,

because I can go directly and instantly to what I'm looking up.

jer mogu direktno i istoga trena dobiti informaciju koju trebam.

I think that the book was never really

Mislim da knjiga nikada nije bila

the right format for nonlinear information,

pravi format za ne-linearne informacije,

which is why we're seeing reference books

upravo su zato kazala

becoming the first to be endangered or extinct.

prve knjige čije postojanje je ugroženo ili su izumrle.

So I don't think that the book will ever really die.

Ne mislim da će knjige umrijeti.

People think that now that we have digital technology,

Misli se da će sada kada imamo digitalnu tehnologiju,

the book is going to die,

knjige umrijeti,

and we are seeing things shifting and things evolving.

vidimo kako se sve mijenja i evoluira.

I think that the book will evolve,

Mislim da će i knjiga evoluirati,

and just like people said painting would die

i isto kako su rekli da će slikarstvo nestati

when photography and printmaking became everyday materials,

kada fotografija i grafika postanu svakodnevni,

but what it really allowed painting to do

ali zapravo je omogućilo slikarstvu

was it allowed painting to quit its day job.

da da otkaz dnevnom poslu.

It allowed painting to not have to have that everyday chore of telling the story,

Omogućilo je slikarstvu luksuz da ne mora svakodnevno pričati priču,

and painting became free and was allowed to tell its own story,

tako je slikarstvo postalo slobodno i moglo je samo pričati svoju priču,

and that's when we saw Modernism emerge,

i tada je nastao modernizam,

and we saw painting go into different branches.

i slikarstvo je krenulo u puno različitih smjerova.

And I think that's what's happening with books now,

Mislim da se to događa s knjigama sada,

now that most of our technology, most of our information,

kada je većina naše tehnologije, većina naših informacija,

most of our personal and cultural records are in digital form,

većina naših osobnih i kulturnih zapisa u digitalnom obliku,

I think it's really allowing the book to become something new.

mislim da je knjizi sada moguće postati nešto novo.

So I think it's a very exciting time for an artist like me,

Mislim da je ovo jako uzbudljivo doba za umjetnika kao što sam ja

and it's very exciting to see what will happen with the book in the future.

i vrlo je uzbudljivo vidjeti što će se dogoditi s knjigom u budućnosti.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)