Tokyo-based artist and designer Tomoko Takeda turns literary masterpieces into stunning works of visual art in her series ものがたりの断片 (monogatari no danpen, trans. “story fragments”). With a brilliant eye for form and structure, Takeda cuts and carves away at the pages of books to form intricate, layered, sculptural objects.
Each piece’s design is related to the contents of the story itself. Natsume Sōseki’s I Am a Cat, for example, is illustrated with a scalloped cover and a pop-up kitten, while Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon was carved into layers depicting a delicate blossom. In translating these famous novels into relevant visual works of art, Takeda explains, “I made books not to read, but to enjoy looking at.”
Above: Two Years’ Vacation by Jules Verne
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupry
I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Kokoro by Natsume Soseki
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Spider’s Thread and Other Stories by Akutagawa Ryunosuke
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Night on the Galactic Railroad by Miyazawa Kenji
