Make a Book with Meat (or other atypical materials) ft. Ben Denzer

Artist and designer Ben Denzer shares an assignment to make an ATYPICAL BOOK. He’s made books from meat, toilet paper, ketchup packets, and lottery tickets, among much else. Your challenge: 1) Make a book that is atypical in terms of its form or material + 2) Share it on Instagram or Twitter with #youareanartist.
#artbooks #bookbinding
Learn more about Ben’s work: bendenzer.com/
Learn more about the Center for Book Arts: centerforbookarts.org/
A GUIDE TO BASIC BOOKBINDING TECHNIQUES:
drive.google.com/file/d/1gMy5...
Order the book You Are an Artist by Sarah Urist Green (cover design by Ben Denzer): bit.ly/2kplj2h
Thanks to our Grandmasters of the Arts Divide By Zero Collection, Sai Rakshith, and Gabriel Civita Ramirez, and to all of our patrons, especially Anthony Chivetta, Rich Clarey, Iain Eudailey, Tom Forwood, Patrick Hanna, Andrew Huynh, Eve Leonard, Audrey Mak Tung, David Moore, Jane Quale, Andrew Sheeler, Boris Silantiev, Josh Thomas, Constance Urist, and Roberta Zaphiriou. We are more grateful for you than you'll ever know!
To support our channel visit: / artassignment , and subscribe for new episodes of The Art Assignment every... now and then. Find and follow us elsewhere, too:
Instagram: / theartassignment
Twitter: / artassignment
Facebook: / theartassignment
Facebook Art-Making Group: / artassignmentextracredit
Website: www.theartassignment.com

[@theartassignment]

A few things to note: 1) Ben Denzer created a super valuable document for us sharing some basic bookbinding techniques: drive.google.com/file/d/1gMy5mA33bRXniOVfqJQLNAXOl_meMcJp/view?usp=sharing 2) Ben makes a wide variety of astounding, intriguing work, which you can and should check out: bendenzer.com/ 3) Ben also designed the cover for my book You Are an Artist (!), which you can find here: bit.ly/2kplj2h 4) Last but not least: You should really do this assignment! Give it a try and share what you make on Instagram or Twitter with #youareanartist. I'll look out for them and reshare. - Sarah

[@katiekaufenberg7395]

@artassignment is art assignment going to be realeasing new videos soon? I look forward to new videos and finding out more about the art world.

[@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631]

GENOCIDE OF BEAUTY: CULTURAL MARXISM IN THE ARTS

[@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631]

Lame Cultural Marxism

[@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631]

Conceptual bullshit

[@0Iive]

@@katiekaufenberg7395 😔

[@therewasabear]

"Meat is just like fingers" I need that on a shirt

[@Xenolilly]

That was really funny and I guess true?

[@theartassignment]

That statement has been echoing around in my head for weeks since we recorded this. So glad we can now share this revelation with you 😆

[@joaofarias6473]

@@theartassignment Meat is just like fingers because they are made of the same component parts: muscle, tendons, cartilage, skin and bone. Why this isn't hard-hitting to most people I don't really know. Regardless, it's still a funny, absurdist sounding quote

[@TJtheBee]

What’s interesting about this from my perspective is how binding them into a book affects the object. Can you pay for something with a book of one dollar bills? How fast does a book of meat decompose, and how does that affect its reading? (Perhaps that’s a change of audience - humans to flies!) And of course, these objects are all temporary; we think of books as having to last for a long while, but many of these decompose and change over time. An interesting thought experiment, if nothing else.

[@arnor83]

On that the objects don´t have to last forever, look at the Fluxus art movement, those who exercised Fluxus focused on the process of making the art over the actual finished product. That would apply to the meat book.

[@darrylelliott9412]

Who knew I would miss Art Assignment so much!☹

[@eggman37]

Miss these guys hope they come back

[@uniecorn5311]

miss this channel so much 🥺😭

[@geo4483]

I discovered this channel this year, and it has become one of my favorite channels of all time. Not only has it brought me insurmountable amounts of creative motivation, it has also taught me so much on how to look at and perceive art, not only mine, but of others as well. I didn't know I could love art this much and I think I owe all of it to this channel. I really do hope they come back to create more videos and assignments when they feel comfortable doing more

[@lorenabpv]

*flashbacks to the infamous meat sculpture of art assignment past* this is the last video before the break, isn't it? if so, wishing you/the team a good break. stay safe and take care :)

[@theartassignment]

SAME (and yes it is! I couldn't leave you without something to do.)

[@Mjhaider1985]

@@theartassignment I'm still not over Mike ending Idea Channel

[@cubeofcheese5574]

@@Mjhaider1985 sadness

[@neropatti1504]

I loooove books, as objects I mean. I think I have to try this.

[@theartassignment]

you should! would love to see what comes of it: #youareanartist

[@Gnomes_]

Same!!!

[@yourfashionarchive427]

bring this channel back

[@imguimoreira]

I miss this channel so bad...

[@lilacsmile4321]

This is genuinely my favorite youtube channel I hope everyone is doing alright!

[@0Iive]

I super miss this channel :( I wish there’d be an update video to say when you might be coming back.

[@Gnomes_]

As someone with a moderately (extremely) consuming obsession with bookbinding, AHHHH!!!!! This is awesome!!!!!! Not many people know about book arts, I really deeply appreciate you highlighting this wonderful lesser known art form ❤️❤️❤️ Currently binding a sketchbook for a still life elective I’m taking, I like how bookbinding intersects art in that way, but also as an art form of its own.

[@jonathanowo7584]

I see this book plug for "You Are an Artist", and I accept it, and embrace it. :D

[@ven1s0n]

My grandfather taught me how to signature sew book bind. He loved to work with leather, and I remember going to the leather factory, cutting and dying the covers, measuring and puncturing the holes into the leather, folding the signatures and sewing them into the leather. We'd try all sorts of patterns with the string, and then sell them or give them as gifts to relatives. One of the highlights of my childhood for sure.

[@Naiyelli]

My boyfriend likes to collect cool drink coasters from pubs, bars, and restaurants we visit. He doesn’t do anything with them just has them in his desk drawer. Might just ask him how he feels about us making a book out of them!

[@SankofaNYC]

I know you told us you were slowing down... I hope you are ok and we can't wait for you guys to come back

[@jimeactua]

Im gonna miss this videos, they are amazing

[@thereisnosun]

Why is this channel dead? Its such a cool thing! 😞

[@KannikCat]

You have no idea how happy this assignment makes me! My favourite joke for two decades has been to interject in an absurd and usually non-sequitur way, “It’s made out of meat.” And here we go! Books made out of meat. So perfect and so great. I am grinning from ear to ear and back around my head to the first ear again. Plus, “Meat is just like fingers!” may be the best thing I’ve heard all week. :D Thank you a tonne!

[@angelgraham4504]

I remember Junior year of high school where my art teacher gave us the assignment to create a book not shaped like a book. It was really cool to see what my classmates came up with- especially some more mechanical pieces. This feels like almost an inversion of that- a book that's... Well while it's still a book, the contents aren't traditional. So maybe it's closer to a cousin? Either way this seems like a fun project I really want to try sometime in the future!

[@scorpioninpink]

I miss this channel.

[@0Iive]

Same 😔

[@soylentcompany5235]

Same 😐😔

[@ohwell2088]

Love this channel so much. I binge watch all the "case for" videos often and discovered my love for art history

[@paulineareno4443]

This video is so whimsical, creative, and innovative! Ben is a delight, brings light to my day!

[@lostcause2195]

My favorite KZbin channel, cant wait for the next upload

[@marclamain8717]

This is a perfect video. I love the quirky creativity book making can bring about.

[@dalicloud9]

as always, i learned more than i expected. thank you for meat binding techniques as well as knowledge of binding terminology.

[@lucias1805]

I just want to say this is the BEST art channel that is out there. I am obsessed thank you! For all the great inspirational and eye-opening sentiments. 💕💕💕🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@tiffanysears5437]

This immediately got my daughter crafting “a new kind of book” with cutouts in paper she had bound together. We love this channel and the You Are book

[@_Wakefuldreams]

Yeeeesssss, book arts was my favorite class in college!!!!! The possibilities are endless!

[@mortalspiral]

I really liked a lot of those books! I think the fortune cookie book and the Splenda one are going to stick in my brain for a bit 🤯

[@Beryllahawk]

I have made books before - very small ones, be it said, but still, it was quite a process. I am still fascinated by book arts, I've always adored the smell of books, of libraries, of the back rooms of libraries even - where the glue and the twine wait to repair spines and the special fabrics, to repair covers. I admit it's never once occurred to me to make a book AS art - though I've known about the idea, all the examples I've ever seen were standard materials, not something like this. It's summer where I am right now, and the leaves are still green and flexible. Think I'll attempt this assignment with plant materials!

[@JacksonMarvel]

I love this! Having cool artists on this platform talking about their art, interlaced with your commentary and topics in some videos too! This is a great new direction for the channel. Just wanted to let you know how much this will bring the channel to the next level! I've been watching this channel since near the beginning and love these new ideas. #Indianapolis4Ever

[@thenerdlet3171]

i cant even express how much i love this? i love this so much. i am sitting here and i am overjoyed. im going to go make a book

[@lily4351]

OOOOH I love this video! Both eye-opening, entertaining and educational. Good Job TAA!

[@luigimlm]

SO there is this Portuguese-Brazilian conceptual artist called Arthur Barrio who did the book of meat in 1978. He uses this ephemeral piece to think about the materialism that turn art in captalization. Besides in that time Brazil was under a dictatorship, so we can think about military violence through the material of the work too

[@leahstone9938]

That really adds meaning to this concept, thank you

[@allanism]

@@TreceLunas maybe you like this artist instagram.com/ricardo_rangels

[@oldtimemachine]

ah! i just saw the meat book on a ig post, great timing, i'll see what i can do :)

[@chickenlurkinyungchihuahua]

I love this! Great finding for my research works!!

[@DavidAltamar2]

I miss you!!

[@Titanic_401]

Don't let Lady Gaga see that meat book.

[@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631]

She's a poser since that dress was made during the 1950s

[@Titanic_401]

@@kikeheebchinkjigaboo6631 uh oh guys the art police is here

[@graphite2786]

A great assignment , Ben! Way way back in 97 we had an exhibition / performance piece that incorporated something very similar to the meatbook. This fantastic concept artist I knew, who used food in a lot of her art pieces, made a book of prosciutto. It was bound with meat glue ( their is such a thing - transglutaminase). There was actual text inside ( squid ink, applied by tattoo gun) of various poems. So after the readings, the book was battered, crumbed and deep fried. She ate her words. It was hilarious!

[@jonathanlandry8902]

Oh no I read the title wrong and made a typical book instead!

[@PhyllisRogers]

I can’t wait to start this project!!!

[@LeanneModenPoet]

This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing!

[@MatheusCampos-ex8et]

I made my own this morning cuting plastic bags I had and using them as the cover. For the pages, I used leaves that had fallen from the trees recently. Overall a great experience, but after that I started thinking otherwise. I mean, doing this assignment amused me, the only issue being that I didn't have a purpose for it so I felt guilty and threw it in the trash can. Couldn't bear to see it suffer alone, all by itself in my desk. If I had made another one, it would eventually become an never ending cycle.

[@uchka.b]

I miss this channel :"P

[@pl6453]

Thank you for making this vid! Im inspired!

[@jennyt2253]

omg this is giving me flashbacks to my second year bookbinding elective @ OCAD! Making an atypical book was my final project for the year, Such a cool video!!! ⭐️

[@ttrenchmiranda]

Waiting anxiously for an episode on NFTs! Hope its coming! Miss this channel!

[@SarahCrookall]

This was a great video, and incredibly creative work! Thanks, Ben. As a poet, I'm excited to see what renditions of zines/chapbooks could be made with this approach.

[@TheElisabethMaria]

This is such a fun way of looking at things as potential books

[@jojogoogles7248]

The trial and error meat picture looks quite scary. I love it!

[@Xenolilly]

Woot! A new assignment!

[@Jdubb333]

such a wonderful idea, i’ll have to give this a try.

[@lillyhill6093]

have a go at this idea perhaps: a bread book, entirely made of bread. I think stitching that would be fun!

[@aarya1467]

I really like the idea of making books with atypical material I'm going to try this out But won't lie that meat book makes my skin crawl. I don't know why but I can't help but imagine animals are conscious and what they will feel after looking at that

[@art-by-ren]

I miss this channel! Please bring it back!!!

[@existentialdiet1632]

This assignment would pair very lovely with your "art book" project from early May

[@kelvinmackinlay7817]

Imagine the smell of a book burning using the meat books.

[@dikshyamohapatra7798]

dear art assignment, can u do a video titled "the case for fashion" please? i love your "the case for-" series, btw. thank u sm for making art less terrifying :)

[@CleverButClueless]

This was so good! I have to try this

[@TrickyNick79]

This channel has had a profound effect on my life and I miss it very much. Can anyone suggest some other channels like it?

[@pilotstyle123]

Try kzbin.infovideos

[@OrionUlttramarino]

Missing u :(

[@SexyBakanishi]

I LOVE THIS!!!!!!!

[@CarolineVisArtGallery]

I Just discouver your channel...very interesting..this is going to take time to discover!

[@Lily-os8zd]

Pls give us a case for nfts or why nfts? Need some logic

[@vozamaraktv-art5595]

So cool !

[@saloneelise6224]

What a fun concept. Can't wait to add the deli books drawer to my fridge

[@aants.kawisar1420]

I like your works. art begins with everyday objects around us. I also present the same thing, and now I try to explore it through my video. regards

[@soylentcompany5235]

Come back 😔

[@davidkbarcus]

Is this the last Art Assignment video?

[@ha-nhuanong9813]

oh i miss your vids, sarah 😭

[@clownstuf]

Same

[@loes3000]

This channel is like a breathe of fresh air from the world lol like my secret little art garden 💀😂

[@BakugouMHA]

I miss you please comeback 😭

[@LuckyLifeguard]

I ADORE THIS

[@kevincardani8321]

Go Blue! I love Ann Arbor and especially Zingerman's!

[@find_the_gnar6194]

love this one

[@777sillydog]

What a good assignment!

[@Shemendyk]

I'm sure everyone will like at least one mk !!! And he will find his model!

[@yanliang6590]

Your books are amazing!!! Where I could buy those fabrics for making the hardcover?

[@irina9339]

Thank you!!

[@fernandamartins9851]

I make books so this is specially fascinating to me

[@lefthandstory1280]

Great art nice job,keep it up😃👍....

[@freedom_mayor]

I got a compilation book of extremely fun but incredibly odd Zines made by PaperRad. lol so i've been thinking about bookbinding for a while. if you don't know them you should google 'em.

[@denvill1172]

Psst it’s time to return

[@kennedyfranklin3975]

Herron School of Art + Design in Indianapolis has a great library of unusual books like this.

[@7heavenlyvirtues]

Amazing ☺

[@OdairASilva]

Come back! 🙁

[@CoreyisBarackObama]

when the videos comin back man?

[@natashaodell8632]

I know this channel will probably never post again but I still come back and check in every once in a wile anyway

[@natashaodell8632]

Also I think a video from this channel talking about AI art would be super interesting

[@aku7296]

Love the small bits doodles on his shirt. What brand shirt is he wearing? It looks damn oversharpen effect😍Btw, this could be a damn great NFT COLLECTION bro🥰

[@ramin.amintafreshi]

@the art assignment: Happy Biiiirthday Art Assignment! 🥳🥳 with a little delay! 🥰❤

[@camillegomez1835]

I wonder what's The Art Assignment's take on NFT's

[@AlthenaLuna]

...now I'm trying to think of glue substitutes that are edible + wouldn't ruin the flavors involved, 'cause there's plenty of food structures that are already book-like, they just won't hold together if handled like one.

[@ilr0927]

I need a video on neoexpressionism I’m ready interested in it but can’t seem to find much about it

[@karaoke_bqv]

I miss this channel so much! Hope all you guys are doing fine.

[@Dragonkinglover]

Where did they go

[@abenamo]

I love this, but I wonder about the sustainability especially of meat/using resources ... the use of lottery tickets etc. is great

[@atlaswar2425]

That book is good enough to eat. Literally

[@V__RR]

now this is art