I think the altered books are a great use of old books and I'm not appalled
at all by the idea. I withdraw books every year that end up in the
dumpster, and I would much rather see them used one last time in a classroom
before they join a landfill where they will rot away. Books that are
falling apart or full of incorrect, outdated information would be great for
this kind of project. And I don't see any problem in the students writing,
under the title of their art piece, "Created using images from the book(s)
______." I think, with the proper instruction, this activity could be a
great lesson in art forms and recycling.
Marco Zannier
Killough M.S. Librarian
7600 Synott
Houston, TX 77083
Marco.Zannier@aliefisd.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Lesley Johnson [mailto:lcjohnsonvip@TELUS.NET]
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 1:37 PM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: Altered Books Website
Subject: Altered Books Website
Personally and professionally, I am appalled at this idea, especially using
it with students. I was taught, and do feel, that a published book is
sacrosanct, not to be harmed or mishandled in any way; to arbitrarily rip
out or add in images and words to an already published book, to me, seems to
send a very dangerous message about reliable authority and legitimacy of
expression. Even for an old and outdated encyclopedia, the idea of changing
it into something else smacks of re-writing history and raises all sorts of
disturbing issues. I just don't see this as a healthy way to be artistic,
because it endorses the altering of another person's completed intellectual
property.
And what about issues of copyright? Are they saying that because it is "art"
and a slightly different medium that it is okay to use other people's words
and images, without proper credit? Or do they take the time to credit all of
the images and words used?
This is also directly related to all the rules and policies Librarians have
developed for the discarding of weeded books: it is to be done carefully and
authoritatively, and the book is permanently removed from the premises.
Librarians do not leave judiciously weeded and discarded books lying around
for people to make into something else, like so much knitting wool or fabric
scraps.
The fact that the "International Society of Altered Book Artists" have to
explain themselves on the website probably indicates that others find the
idea questionable. This art form seems to be an extension of the decidedly
domestic hobby of 'scrapbooking,' in which (usually) women create, on
initially blank pages, a collage of words and family photos to preserve
events in their own family's personal history - a perfectly legitimate
expression. But to extend this hobby into the use and alteration of other
people's intellectual property is not legitimate, IMHO. I would never
support this use of books with students.
Mrs. Lesley Johnson
Surrey School District #36
Surrey, British Columbia,
Canada
HYPERLINK "http://www.sd36.bc.ca/"www.sd36.bc.ca
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