What is the value of knowledge? A coffee shop latte easily costs six dollars or more these days, but peruse any used book sale and you’ll find classics of literature and science for mere cents—published works that have had an indelible impact on culture.
In many cases, mass production has rendered the value of books—as objects—at pennies. Used bookstores with buy-back policies often play a vital role in simply being able to properly recycle or dispose of volumes that are no longer salable. Hundreds of millions of books are tossed each year, whether due to overstock, age, or damage, which is an ongoing problem for the publishing industry.
“The New American” (2021), hardcover book, acrylic varnish, 6.75 x 4.125 x 1.875 inches
While some genres have fallen out of widespread use in our digital age, such as encyclopedia sets, what happens to them after they’re no longer needed is an ongoing sustainability challenge. For artists like Brian Dettmer, an out-of-date reference book isn’t a useless item but a trove of imagery and formal possibilities.
In the artist’s solo exhibition, In·Formation at Riverside Arts Center, work made over the past few years explores collage and sculpture through the medium of books. From cut-up elements interwoven into wall reliefs to freestanding forms made from carving directly into thick tomes, Dettmer highlights the afterlife of hardcover publications like dictionaries, atlases, guides, and other reference titles. He often meticulously splices elements together to create layered, stacked, and diorama-stuffed assemblages.
“There is a randomness to what is revealed, followed by the thoughtfulness of what should remain,” the gallery says. “With each incision, Dettmer strips away layers to expose previously hidden texts and images, often editing the material and assembling it with his own vernacular that suggests new information.” What the artist chooses to reveal, conceal, or even redact—such as the titles on the spines of selected copies used in “Great Houses of Gardening Corners,” for example—nods to our increasingly tenuous relationship with how information is conveyed to us.
In·Formation continues through January 24 in Riverside, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram. You might also enjoy the work of Guy Laramée.
Detail of “The New American”
“Great Houses of Gardening Corners” (2025), hardcover books, acrylic varnish, 13.5 x 12 x 5 inches
Detail of “Great Houses of Gardening Corners”
“Diccionario Enciclopedico” (2020), hardcover books, acrylic varnish, 10 x 29 x 6 inches
“The Annals of America” (2022), hardcover books, acrylic varnish, 31.5 x 29.5 x 4 inches
Detail of “The Annals of America”
“Your Glands and Your Personality” (2025), vintage magazine, acrylic varnish, 7.5 x 5.375 x .25 inches
“American English” (2023), hardcover book, acrylic varnish, 10 x 12.5 x 3 inches
Detail of “American English”
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