Tuesday 26 February 2008

I love Tom Bendsten's book art

Tom Bendsten is a Canadian visual artist. His work consists mainly of installations, films, sculpture, etc. My favourite works of his are his "Conversations" and his "Arguments" which use books as both physical building material and subject matter.

Argument #6(b) is shown here. These tend to be monumental in size, large breath-taking architectural works. In these works, the textural (as opposed to textual) qualities of the books themselves, and the way that light falls on them, help to create much of the beauty. Have a look at an interior shot of Argument #4(b).

His Conversations are equally beautiful, but usually less imposing. For instance, Bendsten has arranged books in a library according to colour, rather than by author or title. Although this work seems sedate, do not be lulled into a false sense security, because Bendsten's Conversations also include the wily Bookhawk, and it will swoop down on the unsuspecting.

1 comment:

Nadia said...

I love it too! And my mom wrote the catalogue essay for his show at the Carleton U gallery (Argument #4[b]).