The Works of Brian Dettmer – Books Transformed

Brian Dettmer is an artist, and one of seemingly endless patience. Using only a handful of simple tools, such as knives, tweezers, and glue, he creates incredible works of art from the husks of aged books. It’s tough to nail down an exacting genre for the type of work he creates, but one thing’s for sure – they’re all incredibly unique.

Brian began creating these papery sculptures in 2001, and has rapidly expanded his collection over the years. His work ranges from the anatomical, right through to political and even vaguely religious. I find anatomical art-work interesting, in a grizzly sort of way, and they’re definitely my favorite of the bunch. Having said that, the rest are equally impressive and I’ll provide details at the end of this article on where you can find even more pieces from Brian’s collection.

Art Made of Books – The Works of Brian Dettmer

Are these not incredibly cool? Like the insects we wrote about years ago, these works all have a certain mechanical quality about them; it’s like Brian is giving us a glimpse into the insides of a machine. I can’t imagine any of these being a short undertaking, and the amount of precision requires to re-create what he imagines in his mind using these books must be astounding. That, or he simply wings it and I’m completely full of shit. Whatever his methods, these are quite impressive.

Now, I mentioned earlier that Brian Dettmer has done numerous pieces over the years, and that’s true. The items I’ve collected here are merely my favorites from a massive collection that he started in 2001, and you can view the rest of them on his official website. Also interesting is an exclusive interview that Brian did with My Modern Met. Though brief, the interview reveals information about Brian’s humble beginnings, and how his craft has evolved over the years. If you’ve got a few minutes, it’s well worth the read.