Guy Laramée is Nova Friburgo, Brazil-based artist who transforms discarded books into mountain-like sculptures. In his works, Laramée explores the idea of “erosion of cultures” and that ultimate knowledge “could very well be an erosion instead of an accumulation.”
Laramée uses various carving methods, including high-pressure water, to alter old encyclopedias and dictionaries. He then paints them to resemble rocky formations seen in nature.
From afar, these pieces look like mountain landscapes, similar to ones found in Pico da Caledônia national park, which the artist sees through the windows of his studio. But when looked closer, the remains of covers, pages, bindings, and titles are still clearly visible.
“Mountains of disused knowledge return to what they really are: mountains. They erode a bit more and they become hills,“ Laramée explains in his artist statement. “Then they flatten and become fields where apparently nothing is happening. Piles of obsolete encyclopedias return to that which does not need to say anything, that which simply IS. Fogs and clouds erase everything we know, everything we think we are.”
Laramée displayed his intriguing book transformations in numerous exhibitions around the world, including his native Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He also frequently shares his newest pieces on social media. Check out more of them below.
