2012-present
unique handbound hardcover book
668 pages, color throughout
5 1/2 in. x 4 1/4 in. x 1 1/4 in.
Edition: open
For Encyclopedia Rebound Sue Sommers presents a series of altered books made from salvaged volumes of the 1960 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana. The books are cut down, shuffled, and rebound in a traditional hard case, covered in book cloth and buckram. These volumes can be understood in the context of “the cut-up technique” of rearranging a source to create a new text. They can be viewed as a salvage, reclamation or recycling effort seeking to repurpose analog knowledge in the digital age. But they can also be appreciated as beautiful objects, both collage and artists’ book. Sommers has produced over 2 dozen of these volumes, each unique, and will continue to bind them as long the source material remains available.
