Outpoll | Brian Dettmer's Sculpted Books Unearth the Archaeology of Analog Knowledge

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As digital streams replace physical archives, the weight of printed knowledge becomes both relic and raw material. Artist Brian Dettmer, in his exhibition 'In·Formation,' performs a precise archaeology on this legacy, meticulously carving obsolete reference texts into intricate sculptures that map the anatomy of information itself.His process is a deliberate act of revelation: sealing a book's edges, then using surgical tools to excavate hidden images, diagrams, and text from within its pages. Through this subtractive technique, a medical journal transforms into a delicate lattice of biological systems, while an old atlas peels back to expose the strata of continents.Dettmer’s work elevates craft into critical commentary, probing the transition from fixed, authoritative volumes to fluid, digital data. These sculptures are fossils of the analog age, capturing information in a state of beautiful, intentional decay.They challenge our disposable relationship with knowledge, offering a tactile counterpoint to the intangible flow of contemporary data. In Dettmer’s hands, a book becomes a dimensional landscape—a liberated artifact where old systems of order yield to new visual narratives, reminding us that within forgotten blocks of text lie entire universes waiting to be uncovered.

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#Brian Dettmer

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#altered books

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#In·Formation

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