Madison Guy's photostream  

Books and other printed materials are often referred to as "dead tree media" by the digerati. One artist literalized this metaphor with a installations made from a truckload of chopped wood. This was one of my favorites, with a library stool and chair embedded in wood, floating in the air.

Note:There was so much to see and so little time, that in many cases I did not get the name of the artist or title of their work. If you have any information, please leave in the comments. Thanks.

"Bookless," the 1-day art and music festival, celebration and fundraiser at the downtown branch of the Madison Public Library, now closed for renovation

Many installations featured found objects from all over the library, assembled in new combinations. For example, the "Please Eat Pets" sign used to be in the basement -- right behind the Intertubes.

Note:There was so much to see and so little time, that in many cases I did not get the name of the artist or title of their work. If you have any information, please leave in the comments. Thanks.

"Bookless," the 1-day art and music festival, celebration and fundraiser at the downtown branch of the Madison Public Library, now closed for renovation

With lots of vacant space and room to spread out, artists could work with the space and let their imaginations roam.

Note:There was so much to see and so little time, that in many cases I did not get the name of the artist or title of their work. If you have any information, please leave in the comments. Thanks.

"Bookless," the 1-day art and music festival, celebration and fundraiser at the downtown branch of the Madison Public Library, now closed for renovation

I liked the noir look black-and-white gave the stairway to the "Bibliotheque Dicotheque" in the lower stacks.

"Bookless," the 1-day art and music festival, celebration and fundraiser at the downtown branch of the Madison Public Library, now closed for renovation.

I printed the reminder on this small tabletop letterpress at "Bookless." (Letterpress demo presented by Silver Buckle Press, UW-Madison Libraries, with volunteers from Polka! Press.)

It was a great opportunity to have a hands-on experience with a small version of the kind of printing press that was responsible for the development of the printed book as we know it. There's still something beautiful about the mechanical, analog process in which raised metal type is pressed against paper to make an impression. The few books printed by letterpress on fine paper still carry that imprint of sharp metal pressing into heavy, quality paper. It gave readers who grew up with it a feeling for the sensuousness and physical beauty of print that the flat surface of an e-reader can never match. Much as I love my Kindle and the Kindle app for the iPhone, that's a fact.