Amaranth Borsuk publishes article on books and bodies

books and bodies

As an outgrowth of her research into the book as object, content, idea, and interface, IAS faculty member Amaranth Borsuk has developed an interest in the relationship between books and bodies, historically and in the present moment. Not only is she interested in how books accommodate to our bodies and we to theirs, as examined in The Book (MIT Press, 2018), her recent research considers books that incorporate the human body into their material form, from nineteenth century human skin bindings to artists' books that incorporate human hair and other bodily materials.

Borsuk's "playlist" for Argentine website Cuarderno Waldhuter, "Libros y cuerpos,” (Translated by Diego Erlan), rounds up five books that incorporate skin, hair, remains, blood, and urine: a sampling of the unusual intersections between books and bodies.