Recycled Words

Walaka called my attention to these fantastic art pieces. The artist, Will Ashford, takes pages from books and finds words and (near-)collocations that call to him, then designs his artwork around them. For me it's an amazingly engaging combination of art forms, resulting in layered, textured, juicy pieces that need to be savored and digested slowly. I find them very visually appealing--I love the the swirls, arcs, lines and dots, the touches of color on occasion, the contrast between sharp and blurred. I also totally dig the idea of taking words--things that seem so stable and static and fundamental--and highlighting the fact that they are not at all what they seem, or rather that they are more than what they seem.

There's something about them that is rather systematic and bounded on one level but also open and amazingly flexible on another level, which is exactly what language is...

Digestion continues.

Also, they brought Karie to mind, one of the most bookish and artish (and Danish!) people I know. Perhaps she's already aware of this artist, but I hope not--I know she'd love a new discovery these days.

(Note: The images are very intricate and hard to see well unless you download them, which the artist sanctions.)