Guy Laramée: Larousse Methodique, Unique Book Sculpture

Sculpture Details:  S.A. Rodger in his article on Laramée’s The Great Wall Project wrote, “From the pages of books spring mountain ranges, rocky islands in the sea and sculptures hidden in caves – not in your imagination, in this case, but literally – in three dimensions. Artist Guy Laramee has carved a series of hardcover encyclopedias into stunning landscape scenes for his Great Wall series. Laramee imagines a future in which America has built its very own Great Wall much like China’s “so as to protect this land from barbarian invasions,” which isolated America from the rest of the world and brought about the fall of “the American Empire.” This enables China to invade. “The Chinese Empire later ordered a group of scribes to write The Great Wall series. In the course of their duties they familiarized themselves with the libraries of the former USA. Through a strange twist of fate they thereby discovered the ancient sources of their own civilization which the new Middle Kingdom had long ago removed from its libraries.”

The books altered were “Encyclopedie Larousse Methodique”. The sculpture measures 8.5” x 9.5” x 7.25”.

Please note that the sculpture will be shipped in a lucite display fixture to ensure that it has a safe journey as well as serve as an alternate way to display the sculpture. 

About the Artist:  Guy Laramée’s carved books are his metaphor for the degradation of human culture. The artist’s treatment of non-fiction information stems from his idea that knowledge is gained by erosion instead of accumulation. “I carve landscapes out of books. Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply is.”

Although Laramée has been involved in the arts for over 30 years with music, performance and video, his sculptures have lately come to be the most important endeavor of his artistic career. Since 2004, Laramée has had 15 solo exhibitions in both the United States and Canada.

Condition Report: The sculpture is in FINE condition.

Photographs of the sculpture, a close of various details, and a picture of the books before they were altered appear in the photo section of the listing.