Hard Copy: Book as Sculpture presents 15 examples of artists’ books that blur the lines between book and sculpture. The themes of these innovative and intimate works are as varied as the artists’ personal experiences and feelings.

The Latin word liber means both book and freedom and two artists in this exhibition explore the idea of liberty. Elisabetta Gut presents an imprisoned tiny dictionary in a cage. Her work Book in a Cage is a metaphor for “freedom of expression.” Brenda Watson’s How to Attract Birds manifests her desire that all creatures live in freedom. The idea of the book as catharsis can be seen in Literary Essences by Wendy Fernstrum.

Hard Copy expands the concept of the book, taking it into new territory where it becomes that unattainable “object of desire” to be admired from a distance. The exhibition plays a game with the viewers. The works are tactile but they cannot be touched. The pages of books cannot be turned. Hard Copy challenges viewers’ expectations and questions the distinction between book and sculpture.

Curated by Krystyna Wasserman, Hard Copy: Book as Sculpture will be on view in the Long Gallery from August 7, 2009, until January 17, 2010. The presentation of this exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Margaret M. Johnston.