Altered Books

Now that we have journeyed through The Book Thief together it is time for our closing project of.....drum roll....altered books!  Before there are sighs of "oh no" and "what is this?" or "do I have to have sticky glue and dumb projects on my kitchen table?", let me say, it is all done at school! Yahoo. On the project note, I am only an advocate of such things that have substance, depth, and meaning (and heaven forbid a little bit of fun).

Altered books have been showcased in museums, art therapy programs, and English classrooms.  In The Book Thief,a character named Max relies on words to express his thoughts while hiding during WWII.  Not only do words literally and figuratively save many characters in this book, they help the characters find meaning and identity.  You are going to do and show the same through book alteration.  Changing a book is not destroying it.  In fact it can pay homage to its power or history. In the book, Max paints over Hitler's Mein Kampf and writes his own story on top of it symbolizing taking his power back from Hitler and creating his own story.

You will do the same.  Your mission, if you choose to accept it, will be to have a theme you want to express through altering and creating your own story through creative use of words.  Click here for more explanation and suggestions.  Click here for the rubric you will be graded on. Here are some examples from professional artists and students' projects in previous years. Ask yourself what they are saying. At the end of the project you will write a brief artist's statement explaining what you were communicating and the purpose of your project.

 

Art by Jennifer Khoshbin

 

Art by Jennifer Khoshbin

Below are student examples