New Chapter | 9 August 2020 – 9 September | NWU Gallery
The ‘book’ is no longer the Holy Grail of the information world. We can access almost anything instantly through new technology by the brush of a fingertip.
Physical books, as differentiated from digital versions, tend to trigger memories both visual and tactile: our hands hold a book and feel the texture, our eyes read a book and adore the pictures, our minds awaken to the conceptual potential of the printed page and our muscle memory deepens our relationship with it.
The transformation of a ‘book’ to an art object is not only intentional recycling in the material sense, it is a rebirth of ideas, images, text and textures from a cultural past.
This exhibition, “NEW CHAPTER”, intends to engage not only the visual appeal on the viewer’s eyes, but also the intellect, allowing for powerful commentary and exploring questions about the history and future of books as symbols of knowledge and joyful experience.
Marna de Wet White Sleeve 26X18 cm Pencil and oil on old book cover. This image does not reveal the woman’s identity. The painting is unfinished, imperfect, and incomplete like human nature.
Jean Lampen: Dangerous times
Jean Lampen: Dangerous times Medium used: old book on snakes with watercolour of older woman and an image used of a bird stitched in resin. As history is scientifically solidified in amber, I am putting information from old books in resin (it should also survive an apocalypse) preserving a piece of history for eternity.
Elna Venter: Crippled of Love / Krank van Liefde Medium: Handmade paper with dried leaves and beads, paper collage on linen book cover, button Dimensions: (Framed) Width 95.00 cm, height 71.00 cm, depth 3.50 cm I found this very old book on the pavement in a wastepaper container destined for recycling. The original cover of this book is handmade from linen, handsewn with cotton thread on the inside and tied together with a button. The subject-matter (in old Dutch script) deals with lifestyle doctrines and interhuman relationships. The title of this artwork “Krank van Liefde” (meaning ‘desperately in love’) is also the title of a chapter in the book.
Exhibition details:
Opening 9 August 2020
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