Object Book 1979

This is Ion Bitzan's "Object Book," its date is unknown, its media is too. The book, usually a vessel of knowledge and stories, is here transformed into a tactile object, an artifact. The open pages, splayed like wings, evoke a sense of revelation, yet their disarray and fragmentation hint at a deeper, perhaps chaotic, narrative. Bound by leather straps, this object resonates with the ancient codices, linking us back to monastic traditions where books were sacred. Consider the open book motif, recurrent across epochs, from Renaissance altarpieces where it symbolizes divine wisdom, to modern art where it questions the very nature of knowledge. The act of opening a book, inviting entry into a world of ideas, is primal. Jung would agree, arguing that such images tap into our collective unconscious. Here, Bitzan's book defies easy reading, urging us to consider what memories, and what cultural residue, it silently holds.