The Art of Recycled Books

This Hub is in honor of National Art Advocacy Day, the April 4th-5th national event that recognizes and fosters public funding for the arts in America.

Book recycling has taken on new life as talented artists present us with imaginative and enterprising projects. I've gathered together a few inspiring eco-art products from around the world and one very cool DIY book project that I hope will inspire you and your children to get creative with eco-art.

Kim Songhe's made-to-order chandeliers are crafted by hand with natural materials and reusable wastes. She uses everything from stuffed animals to dolls, cans and shredded cotton. Her Book Chandelier, adorned with wax candles is a whimsical delight. Kim can even custom create an eco-art chandelier for a client's own vision. Her complete line of recycled fixtures can be viewed on her website.

Imagine a room made entirely out of books! There is one on exhibit at the Modern Art Center in Lisbon, Portugal, proving books are the foundation for one of our basic human needs. The room is an inspiration to all creative interior designers and a tribute to those Three Little Piggies who charmed us by building houses out of sustainable products.

If you visit the the new architecture library at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands you'll find they have a fabulous front desk built out of recycled books. The inspiration for the project came after a devastating fire in the architecture building destroyed a portion of the library's reserve. The new desk consists of many of the books that were saved. Read more about it here.

Isaac Salazar turns dusty old books into art, carving and origami folding words and symbols into the pages. This talented artist's method of recycling favors a far more creative solution than giving your used books to the book fair or worse, the county landfill. Salazar's book art inspires viewers to "Dream" and to "Read". To see more of Salizar's Book Origami, visit Book of Art's Photostream on Flickr.

Artist Michael Roger of bookbinders.com takes a vintage LP and carefully cuts it to serve as the front cover of a hardbound journal. Vinyl is tough to recycle, but Roger has come up with a winning formula that is both beautiful and useful. The acid-free pages may be ordered ruled or unruled. You can even choose your preferred music genre! Each book is handmade.

One of the greenest ways to recycle your old books is to turn them into flowerpots! The graphic design agency Tokyo Pistol has done just that. You can purchase the one featured here by visiting Mitsubai Tokyo. (Select English to translate the page). You should take note; this recycled product isn't everlasting as the moisture will eventually wilt and ripple the pages, but showing support for a Japanese ecologically forward company is still good business.

Little handbags are all the rage and many handmade styles are selling very well on-line. Why not try out your book recycling skills? If you're lucky enough to have a collection of retro sci-fi novels like artist Chris Job, you've got a head start, but any book with an appealing cover will do. For this project it helps to know how to use a sewing machine but it's not necessary. Everything else you learned in kindergarten. Have fun!

Supplies needed are:
• A hardbound book with an attractive cover
• Fabric (1/2 yard or so)
• Sewing machine or needle and thread
• Scissors
• Utility knife
• Craft glue
• Store-bought [or handmade] purse handle
• Colored markers
• Polyurethane finish, Mod Podge, or watered-down white glue

As more and more eco-conscious individuals, artists, manufacturers and dare I say politicians accept the idea that it is good to reduce our carbon footprint on mother earth, we can look forward to seeing more of these delightfully creative eco-friendly products and works of art.

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