The Art of "Blooks" (things that look like books but aren't)

[Brigitte Martin]

The Aesthetic Allure of Books Without Pages

by Claire Voon

SOURCE: http://hyperallergic.com/279766/the-aesthetic-allure-of-books-witho...

Books exist as receptacles of information, but for many years people have adopted their format and appearance to create other objects or containers for an array of items. Such objects are referred to as “book-looks” — or “blooks,” a term coined by Mindell Dubansky, a preservation librarian at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Thomas J. Watson Library who has over the years amassed hundreds of examples. A sample of her growing collection is now on view at the Grolier Club in the exhibition Blooks: The Art of Books that Aren’t, filling the shelves of its second floor gallery with over 100 objects that resemble books, illustrating our fascination with their design and architecture rather than simply the contents of their pages. Most of the ones that can open are arranged in ways that show both their outsides and interiors, making for a thoughtful and extensive display.

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