books unbound @ gallery one88 katoomba

When David Kary, the editor of Sydney Arts Guide, asked me to write something about my upcoming art exhibition, I had to retrieve my research notes to recall what prompted me to make wall pieces out of the covers of hardback books. What came over me? The idea grew after  a librarian friend mentioned that covers of books are removed before they are pulped. My curiosity soared and my research began. The result is 15 wall-pieces being exhibited by Gallery ONE88 in Katoomba during the Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival.

I was a book editor in the 1980s. I loved opening a book I’d commissioned for the first time. Hearing the faint crack of the spine, feeling the pages as you fanned them out and smelling the fresh scent of paper – glorious. Now, I write book reviews for Sydney Arts Guide and get the same buzz when a new title arrives for me to read. The spine, the smell, the crisp paper – still glorious.

While publishing is a new world with print-on-demand, audio books, eBooks and self-publishing, many of us still like printed books. We have shelves and shelves of them. What happens to all those books? What happens to all those books shipped to stores but that don’t sell?

Simply put, I wanted to save for the future something from books destined for destruction. That idea led to using the hard covers to create amusing, serious, well-constructed wall art. Most of the works incorporate the front covers, such as ‘Torn Ideas’, a wall piece where the cover of the ‘Spinster of the Parish’ (1922) is juxtaposed with ‘The Martyrdom of Man’ (1872). ‘She Read Too Much’ is a completely silly piece yet it gets the most ‘likes’. Very unexpected!

In the 1980s, it was acceptable for publishers to have a return rate of 50% for printed books – meaning half of the books were destroyed. That is a lot of trees destroyed for naught. Book return rates for publishers in 2021 shrunk to 25% – but that is 25% of more books! How many books are published every year? Estimates range from 1.5 million to 2.2 million. How many are eBooks? How many are print-on-demand? How many are printed? Whatever the figure, it’s enormous, with enormous wastage.

Pulping is stripping a book of its cover and having the torn book recycled in the plant. The severed cover is sent back to the publishing house as evidence that the book has been destroyed or recycled into paper or cardboard. Generally, the bookseller gets the refund for that part of the original bulk shipment of the title. It works the opposite on books by consignment.

By recycling books we can make a difference. You, or someone whose job it is, has to remove covers before the recycling process begins. And, you have to make sure that the pages have not turned tan or brown. You should throw those in the general waste. The same goes for books that were splashed with liquids – throw them away with your household rubbish.

Aside from recycling, you can try to sell them. A decent set of Britannica sells for $400 on eBay. You can donate them to a charity such as 2MBS’ Book sale. You can try to give them away to friends. Most libraries don’t want them. You can add them to your local street library. But mostly, unwanted books get pulped.

My thanks to Sappho Bookstore in Glebe that saves books for me that are so damaged they would have to be pulped. My thanks to Victor and Sharon of Gallery ONE88, the helpful and engaging Katoomba Gallery owners who completely understood the intent of this exhibition – books can survive into the future through art.

My exhibition BOOKS UNBOUND is on at Gallery ONE88, 186-188 Katoomba Street, Katoomba between October 20-23, 2022.

Article by Carol Dance