Whoa Moment: Brian Dettmer

For life on this planet, it's evolve or die — and time has no sympathy for outdated forms of information. We've had that reaction stumbling on decaying eight-tracks or moldering paperbacks at a yard sale: a few seconds of melancholy for a bygone era of lower expectations.

Atlanta artist Brian Dettmer plays with this perception shift that befalls outmoded media. He reconfigures these junky anthropological relics, pulling out the timeless bits that their former shells prevent us from seeing. Old books and maps are carved up and dissected like specimens in a natural history museum, and Dettmer presents his edited creations as dioramas. Some hang on the walls of Toomey Tourell with glass fronts so the viewer can peer into their guts; others stand on their spines, bent and cut to reveal key images and text. A volume of Norman Rockwell paintings — its spine cut up to read "No man will gaze over a evil Press and use" — is sliced to reveal segments of Rockwell's astonished eyes, laughing mouths, and flailing limbs.

Stacy Martin reviews Brian Dettmer
San Francisco Bay Guardian

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[Thanks Jim!]

Comments

[Norman Hills]

Dettmer's carved books are simply amazing - what a spectacular idea!

[Ali S.]

Wow! These are gorgeous!