Brian Dettmer: Old books reborn as intricate art

譯者: Marssi Draw 審譯者: Coco Shen

I'm an artist and I cut books.

我是藝術家，我切割書本。

This is one of my first book works.

這是我早期的書作品，

It's called "Alternate Route to Knowledge."

稱為「通往知識的替代道路」。

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

我想創作很多書，讓大家進藝廊時心想

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

只是來看一堆普通的書，

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

結果他們靠近一看 卻發現書被挖了粗糙的洞，

然後好奇發生什麼事，思考為什麼，

and wonder what was happening, wonder why,

and think about the material of the book.

開始想這本書是什麼材料做的。

So I'm interested in the texture,

我對質感很有興趣，

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

但我對在書裡找到的圖文更感興趣。

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

我通常用黏膠密封書緣，

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

就像在書上做一層皮膚，

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

書變成硬媒材，但內頁還是鬆的，

and then I carve into the surface of the book,

我挖開書皮，

and I'm not moving or adding anything.

不會移動或添加任何東西上去。

I'm just carving around whatever I find interesting.

我只是到處挖我覺得有趣的東西。

So everything you see within the finished piece

所以你在成品裡面看到的

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

都是書裡原本的東西。

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

我的作品有點像是再製品，

because I'm working with somebody else's material

因為我用的是別人的媒材，

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

跟音樂主持人用同樣的方式 處理別人的音樂。

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

這是拉斐爾的畫冊， 他是文藝復興時期的藝術家，

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

透過再製、雕刻他的作品，

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

我似乎把書做成更新穎、具現代感的東西了。

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

我也想打破傳統書本的方形邊界，

and pushing that linear format,

推開原本的橫排設定，

and try to push the structure of the book itself

試著推開書原來的結構，

so that the book can become fully sculptural.

就能雕刻整本書。

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

我用夾鉗、繩子和各種媒材再施重，

in order to hold things in place before I varnish

讓書在上漆前可以黏緊，

so that I can push the form before I begin,

開工前我就能推開構造，

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

因此像這樣的東西

就可以變成這樣的作品，

which is just made from a single dictionary.

這原先是一本字典。

Or something like this can become a piece like this.

或是像這樣的東西，

可以變成這件作品。

Or something like this,

或是像這樣的東西，

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

沒人知道會變什麼樣子、 為什麼會在我的工作室，

will become a piece like this.

最後會變成這樣一件作品。

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

我想書破了有人會心煩是因為

people don't want to rip books

大家都不想撕破書，

and nobody really wants to throw away a book,

也沒有人真的想丟書，

is that we think about books as living things,

也因為我們認為書有生命，

we think about them as a body,

像它們擁有身體，

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

書是為了我們存在的 從比例上而言，

but they also have the potential to continue to grow

但書也有成長的潛力，

and to continue to become new things.

繼續變成新的東西。

So books really are alive.

書真的有生命。

So I think of the book as a body,

我把書看作是身體，

and I think of the book as a technology.

我把書看作是工藝，

I think of the book as a tool.

我把書看作是工具。

And I also think of the book as a machine.

我也把書看作是機器。

I also think of the book as a landscape.

我也把書看作是地景。

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

這是整套百科全書被磨平黏貼在一起，

and as I carve through it,

我一邊雕刻，

I'm deciding what I want to choose.

一邊決定要留什麼下來。

So with encyclopedias, I could have chosen anything,

有了百科全書，我可以選擇任何東西，

but I specifically chose images of landscapes.

但我特別選擇地景的圖片。

And with the material itself, I'm using sandpaper

呼應媒材本身，我用砂紙磨平邊緣，

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

這樣圖片能搭配地景之外，

but the material itself suggests a landscape as well.

媒材本身也變成一座地景。

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

我雕刻書的時候

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

也會思考書裡的圖片和文字，

and I think about them in a very similar way,

我會用非常相似的方式思考，

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

因為有趣的是我們閱讀文字，

when we're reading a book,

閱讀書本的時候，

it puts images in our head,

腦海裡就有了影像，

so we're sort of filling that piece.

就像是填補了那本書。

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

我們就像是邊讀文字、邊創作影像，

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

我們看圖片的時候，其實就使用了語言，

in order to understand what we're looking at.

才能了解我們看的東西。

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

這樣的演變就像太極，

sort of a flip flop.

像一體兩面同時存在，

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

觀者可以親身參與完整我的作品。

And I think of my work as almost an archaeology.

我的作品幾乎可以說是考古學，

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

我挖掘，試著發揮最大潛能，

and discover as much as I possibly can

盡可能鑿取更多

and exposing it within my own work.

並在作品中展現。

But at the same time,

但同時

I'm thinking about this idea of erasure,

我也在思考消除的概念，

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

現在的新聞都看不見實體訊息，

and this idea of loss,

而這個失去的概念，

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

不只是指在電腦中不斷改變的形式，

but the information itself,

更是指訊息本身，

now that we don't have a physical backup,

現在我們不會有紙本備份，

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

不想失去就要不斷更新。

And I have several dictionaries in my own studio,

我的工作室有幾本字典，

and I do use a computer every day,

我也每天用電腦，

如果要查單字，我會用電腦，

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

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

因為我可以直接找到答案。

I think that the book was never really

我想書本從來就不是

the right format for nonlinear information,

複雜資訊的正確格式，

which is why we're seeing reference books

這就是為什麼我們會發現工具書

becoming the first to be endangered or extinct.

變成頭號岌岌可危快絕跡的東西。

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

所以我不認為書會真的消逝，

People think that now that we have digital technology,

大家認為當一切數位化

the book is going to die,

書就會消逝，

and we are seeing things shifting and things evolving.

我們就會看著事物轉變、進化。

I think that the book will evolve,

我認為書會進化，

and just like people said painting would die

就像曾有人說繪畫會消逝，

when photography and printmaking became everyday materials,

因為攝影和印刷 觸手可及的年代已來臨，

but what it really allowed painting to do

但繪畫反而因此得以

was it allowed painting to quit its day job.

不用每天工作。

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

繪畫也不必再肩負 每日說故事這樣的雜務，

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

繪畫變得自由，能訴說自己的故事，

and that's when we saw Modernism emerge,

現代主義也因此起源，

and we saw painting go into different branches.

發展出各種不同的流派。

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

我認為書現在的處境就像當時的繪畫，

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

現在我們大部分的技術、資訊，

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

以及私人和文化的記錄都數位化時，

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

我認為那反而促使書本發展新樣貌。

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

現在對像我這樣的藝術家來說 是讓人興奮的時刻，

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

預見書本未來的發展也讓人非常興奮。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）