The artist turns old books into tiny landscapes

The artist Guy Laramée turns old books into oceans, valleys and ridges. The last 25 years he creates works of art which, in his understanding, reflect "an erosion of cultures" and how new technologies influence transfer of knowledge. His works illustrate transition from paper information to digital, from the physical world of library to the non-material sphere of the Internet. And still they give new life to the thrown encyclopedias and outdated reference books.

“Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills. Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are” – Laramee writes on his website.

Laramee's choice of reference books as material for the works isn't usual case. It is conceptual sending to “erosion”, washing out of cultures – a subject which occupies it the last 25 years. “Cultures emerge, become obsolete, and are replaced by new ones. With the vanishing of cultures, some people are displaced and destroyed. We are currently told that the paper book is bound to die. The library, as a place, is finished. One might ask so what?” – Laramee explains his point of view.

His works are an attempt to show how as a result of change of approaches to information increase of level of knowledge can turn into an erosion actually. Knowledge is built in our digital systems now, and their peel has turned into mountains and valleys.

Larami's works are presented at an exhibition in Jane Baum's Gallery in New York now (Jayne H. Baum Gallery), and also in Foster-Whyte's Gallery in Seattle (Foster/White Gallery). More photos of his works can be seen on the personal website of the artist.