Sensational Books
Sensational Books explored our experiences of the book beyond reading. Held in the Bodleian's oldest reading room, the exhibition included de Waal's artist book, breath, published by Ivorypress in 2019.
breath is a book of poems by Paul Celan, both in German and in translation by Pierre Joris, printed on three different papers, washed with porcelain slip, rewritten and held together. The vellum-bound volume has fragments of medieval manuscript in its spine that had been used for other books before, a palimpsest - one reading overlapping with another.
Rub, stroke, chew, wear, sniff – Sensational Books structured around six senses of sight, sound, taste, smell, touch and proprioception, the sense of self-movement and body-perception, to unlock a world of sensory engagement with books.
Installation photos: Pablo Gómez-Ogando
