October 3, 2011

B Is For Beautiful & Books . . .

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I think I’ve mentioned here before that I’m a sucker for a good book. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned, however, that I’m also a sucker for a good musuem.  So I was doubly delighted while we were in Utah last month that we got to take our kids to spend a little time in the BYU Museum of Art where they had a fantastic exhibit about using the written word as art.

My favorite piece was a large scale work that involved a towering squarish stack of books .  It was so colorful and had amazing texture.  Up close it seemed like the books were placed at random in the structure. But upon further inspection I could tell there must have been specific deliberation  in order to get such straight edges.

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Then I started to see specific groupings of color, like this gorgeous section with gilded pages.  Up close it doesn’t seem to make a big impact.

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But stepping back I could appreciate the shine that little section gave the overall piece.

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You can’t really appreciate the scale of the piece until you see someone standing near it.  Here’s Hannie B. mouth slack, neck cocked, eyes gazing at the sheer size of it.  We must have spent 20 minutes just enjoying this particular piece. It was amazing!

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How do you help your children appreciate art? 

PS. All pictures were taken without flash.  It was only AFTER I’d snapped these photos that a security guard came and informed me no photographing was allowed.  Oops. :)

8 comments:

Apis Melliflora said...

I'd like to think I will have read that many books in my life time. =)

Book art is really beautiful.

Aiketa said...

Wow this is stunning! I loved a facebook album QV posted which was all with book art. So amazing.

@Apis, you dream high! I will never in my life be able to read as many book... I love reading but I never find the time to do so...

TracyS. said...

The guards told us the center was hollow because the solid piece planned was too heavy for the floor to support. I think it was simply great.
The kiddos enjoy art at a very fast pace and really only stop to look at the "funny parts." So I have found that I must use my sense of humor to engage them in art appreciation.

LJB said...

We took our kids to the BYU Art Museum when the Carl Bloch exhibit was there. That was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the original artwork brought over from Denmark and Sweden. I saw reverence in my kids behavior as they savored each piece of art! It was an awesome experience! Loved the book art exhibit too! It's amazing!

The Queen Vee said...

Love this sculpter although it's a bit sad to think that this may be the only way we'll see books in the future as everything goes digital and on Kindle type devices. I love books, I know I will never read as many books as this, I just hope I can keep reading until I die.

The Queen Vee said...

So glad you snapped a few pics before being reprimanded so that we could enjoy this FAB structure too.

jd said...

I am super glad you got/took those photos :)

I LOVE it!!

Laura Waltz said...

Wow, thank goodness you didn't have your flash on or else he would have probably stopped you sooner, and this is something I'm glad to see. Amazing! Thanks for sharing!