October 22, 2013

DIY idea: bookshelf wall at The Wit


This past weekend I spent a night at The Wit hotel in Chicago and noticed the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in this lounge. See those faces? Let's look closer.


All of those black and white portraits are formed from the spines of books.


Each book wears a jacket of plain black paper over its regular cover, and then a slice of a face is glued to the spine. (No books were harmed in the making of this project.)


If you need a statement wall in your house, copy this idea! Print and slice up a mix of celebrities, artists, and world leaders, or immortalize your family and friends. You're not reading that set of encyclopedias anymore, are you? Repurpose them as artwork.

18 comments:

  1. LauraOctober 22, 2013 at 4:40 PM

    I am in love with this idea.

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  2. Grandma GOctober 22, 2013 at 5:23 PM

    Kinda weird. :)

    Mum

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  3. Jessica JonesOctober 22, 2013 at 5:23 PM

    Me too. It made me really happy.

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  4. Jessica JonesOctober 22, 2013 at 5:24 PM

    Whoops, Mum, I was replying to Laura but you sneaked in there.

    I take it you won't be doing this to all those books you don't read on your bookshelf. :)

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  5. Grandma GOctober 22, 2013 at 5:41 PM

    You're right. I'm donating them to the library instead. :)

    Mum

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  6. Jessica JonesOctober 22, 2013 at 5:42 PM

    And I guess it would be counterproductive for the library to attempt this project. :)

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  7. Grandma GOctober 22, 2013 at 5:53 PM

    Just a little, yeah. But I bet those books would get extra attention! ;)

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  8. JeanneOctober 22, 2013 at 6:22 PM

    What an incredibly creative idea! It reminds me of those large portraits of people that, when you get close enough to see, are made from small individual photos. I've even seen them made from postage stamps. But this project looks way easier....

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  9. AnonymousOctober 22, 2013 at 6:26 PM

    I like the idea. There is something perverse in me that wants to reorder them though!

    Sophie

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  10. AnonymousOctober 22, 2013 at 7:32 PM

    Actually we can get one step weird-er and we can put the writer's face on his/her own books. Dickens,Steinbeck,Heinrich Böll in one place!

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    Replies
    1. RhondaBussOctober 23, 2013 at 6:43 AM

      That's what I was thinking. If you have a collection by one author, this is a great way to group them.

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  11. MögelkontrollOctober 23, 2013 at 2:07 AM

    it´s really Interesting to see ... thank you it's well done :)

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  12. Jessica JonesOctober 23, 2013 at 7:41 AM

    I love that suggestion!

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  13. LTOctober 23, 2013 at 7:45 PM

    I am actually going to do this!

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  14. LizabethOctober 24, 2013 at 8:05 AM

    It doesn't have to be pictures of book authors...

    I'm thinking old old family photos that are normally tucked away out of sight, printed out large...

    OR do some sort of filing box for a certain amount of DVDs with a photo representing whatever is in that box?

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  15. hana candelariaOctober 24, 2013 at 5:58 PM

    I am crazy about this idea. I can hardly wait to update my bookshelves :) THANKS!!!!

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  16. SujathaOctober 28, 2013 at 2:41 AM

    Love the originality of this idea. So cool and unique.

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  17. AysOctober 28, 2013 at 8:44 AM

    wow, i love this idea. though i'd probably not do this on my favorite books.

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