Book Autopsies

Brian Dettmer creates art in books by cutting away layers of pages to reveal an image inside or to create an image out of text. Dettmer's early work focused on coded languages, like Braille or Morse. He has since focused on a Victorian interpretation of the relationship between his three dimensional art and surgery. Surgery during the Victorian era was crude at best (see Victorian-age surgery tools for proof). Many if not all of the books he works with contain plate illustrations, typically in black and white. The use of plate illustrations creates an old-time sense, an unexpected discovery. Dettmer does not move any existing illustrations; his work involves solely cutting away of pages. He first introduced his book autopsies in 2000, and has quickly earned popularity on the web.