The term "altered books" generally refers to commercially published books that have been changed from their original form for artistic reasons. This modern form of book-altering is credited to British artist Tom Phillips, who in 1966, began using the pages of the Victorian novel A Human Document as canvases for his original art. The completed work was titled A HUMUMENT.http://www.humument.com/
Altered book artists tear, embellish, paint, draw upon, stamp, and write on the pages and covers of books to make them into a new piece of art. The process of altering books particularly appeals to mixed-media artists, who will use a combination of mediums and techniques in their art.
Some altered book artists leave text and images from the original pages showing through, and create art inspired by it, while other artists will cover the entire page with paint or paper, and essentially use the pages as a canvases for their new art.
In some cases, artists may even remove all the pages of a book, and use the cover to protect a niche or 3-dimensional piece of art.
Another popular activity among mixed-media and altered book artists is to make altered books in collaboration with other artists, wherein one artist will alter one or more pages, then pass it on to another artist.
More on Altered Books
Artists use a variety of media when altering books. Some of the more popular mediums include:
References
Fast Facts
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Historically books were altered out of practicality, and the practice of altering books dates back to the 11th century, when text was scraped off of old manuscripts to make way for new writing. These altered books were referred to as Palimpsest.
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In the 1700s, books were altered into a form of scrapbook, when people practiced what is known as "Grangerism," by pasting illustrations, ticket stubs, and clippings into old books.
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Pages of A Humument can be seen at the artist's website.
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The International Society of Altered Book Artists (ISABA) is a non-profit organization for altered book artists, hobbyists, teachers and students, whose goal is to promote book-altering as an art form.
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