Wow, talk about conflicting emotions. I'm at once in awe of the beauty of Brain Dettmer's "Book Autopsies" and horrified that he murdered these old books.

From the artist:

I cut into the cover of the book and dissect through it from the front. I work with knives, tweezers and other surgical tools to carve one page at a time, exposing each page while cutting around ideas and images of interest. Nothing inside the books is relocated or implanted, only removed. Images and ideas are revealed to expose a book’s hidden, fragmented memory. The completed pieces expose new relationships of a book’s internal elements exactly where they have been since their original conception.

Amazing.

More images + background information: here and here.

(Via Design Observer)