MISC

Hay festival: Rushdie's return to magical thinking

There's a definitive buzz about the literary world in regards to Rushdie's new book. I must confess that I haven't read any of Rushdie's work yet though his Satanic Verses has come highly recommended and necessary read.

Designers Teach Glass (and Themselves) New Tricks

"...Tim Dubitsky['s], of the creative agency Li Inc., ...most ambitious project was
to encase a book in glass, with the caveat that the container would
have to be broken for the book to be read. The glass masters created a
delicate casing a little more than one-eighth of an inch thick, which
they allowed to cool overnight before inserting the book and then
sealing up the end."

Why encase a book? There is art in the physical appearance,feel and weight of a book. I would happily admit that the tactile experience of physically interacting with a written work is second to none and also admit that there are definitive moments throughout the week when I find myself simply gazing at the bookshelves in our house, I would,however, question the point of encasing a work in glass.It recalls the idea of a fire extinguisher where the item that would save our house from burning to the ground is held safe and sound in a cave resting until needed. books are not fire extinguishers and they differ on one main metaphorical point. The content of the fire extinguisher will ideally do the same thing each time, which is to put out the fire but the content of the work is not known until the contents of the work have been ingested and marinated in until the work's ideas have added themselves or taken over an individuals world view. By encasing a book in glass the effectiveness of the work is rendered null. The contents, the most important aspect of the work, are kept under glass revealing only the cover of the work which is not sufficient to determine, when the time is ripe and necessary to crack the glass, if the contents are pointed and poignant for the situation.