Books and Holes: Tree of Codes

Yesterday I had a look in the Arnolfini Bookshop at Tree of Codes, the latest book - or art work - by the New York novelist Jonathan Safran Foer.  He has taken what he claims is his favourite novel, The street of Crocodiles, by a Polish author Bruno Schulz, and produced a different story from the words in that book - by extensive laser cutting of the pages, to remove the majority of the words and leave a new pattern in the text which is his new short novel.   Here's a video from the Guardian in which Foer explains how the book was created.

The actual book is something of a technical triumph for the publisher (Visual Editions whose website about the book is here) is interesting to hold - it feels nice, the cut pages look clean and sharp, and there is a strange intensity about flicking through the pages, which are more empty holes than paper, and seeing bits of text in layers bobbing out from the pages below.  But it si almost impossible to read, or at least I would find it so.  I would need a sheet of paper to interleave underneath the text on each page, or else it would be nigh on impossible to separate out 'this page' words from those of later, lower-lying, pages.

At least some of the critics think it is wonderful.  Here's one, from Vanity Fair.  The Guardian review, by MIchael faber, which is here, is less enthusiastic..  I am not so sure,.  I haven't actually read Foer's earlier novels, so I'm in no position to judge the quality of the story telling.  But it seems an odd thing todo.

On the other hand, is it so very different from Tom Phillips much admired Humument, where he didn't cut holes in the pages, but he painted over, or otherwise masked, much of the original txt, to create a 'new' story.

That is almost impassible to follow, too.  I have a copy, and although it is fun to flip through, I found  the painting, squiggles, colouring in, etc totally distraction, so much so that I couldn't' make any sense of the 'new' text.

But other people have simply cut holes in printed books to create interesting shapes and paper sculpture, and have made no pretence of keeping any sort of 'meaning' from the words on the pages.  This example is by Sara Bodman, from UWE.

This one is by Su Blackwell

Both photos are copied form this very good blog, Curled up with Book.

I think many of these altered books are successful pieces of artwork, because they create whelky new images or things out of otherwise dusty and unloved pages. But this, too, is in danger of losing it's claim on the art world, as it increasingly becomes a device for the 'homestyle and rafts' market. But even there, why not?  If people can alter a book and make something visually and aesthetically pleasing from it, why not?  it may ever be - and would not claim to be - high art, but altered books can be fun and sometimes quite beautiful things emerge from the dusty old pages.   Many of the works on show at the Bristol Book Arts show last year were remarkable,  and fascinating, and also very skilfully made.