There. A sudden movement, like vapor that disappears as quickly as it appears. Or a shadow, seen out of the corner of your eye. These faint shadows, these luminous apparitions – are they faint traces, remnants, memories that we conjure in a moment, when a door creaks, when lightning flashes, when the room goes cold, or are they supernatural entities unwilling to release their connection to a place or a person?
In stories and folktales, ghosts are harbingers, haints, and often horror-inducing specters tied to places and sometimes people. In modern times, being “ghosted” refers to the sudden disappearance from social media or digital connections. Unlike the phantoms of old returning because they refuse to break connection to the physical world, people now retreat from contact, disappearing instantly, or fading away.
The Book As Art: Ghosted is the fourteenth edition of an art show celebrating books: objects that, in an increasingly digital world, stubbornly survive.
The book is a medium of practical expression and also a vessel for creative interpretation. Artists are invited to explore the limitless possibilities of the form and its impact. What is physical and phantom? What line is walked between folklore and figment? How do we transform language to fit the digital age?
The objects in this exhibition should interpret the concept of the book and invite the viewer to look beyond the printed page to where ideas, words, and symbols are transformed and transfigured. Artists are challenged to embrace the dualities and paradoxes of communication—to celebrate the macabre and the mysterious, the familiar and the fantastic, the clear and the cryptic.
The Book As Art series seeks to showcase beautifully made volumes, sculptural and conceptual interpretations, mixed-media, and one-of-a-kind approaches to the book format. Artists are encouraged to submit wall-hung and digital interpretations of the book as well.
Apply exclusively on CallforEntry.org. Application deadline: June 17th.
The Book As Art v.14: Ghosted
Fourth Floor Gallery of the Decatur Library
Fri. September 11 – Sat. October 24, 2026
Opening Reception on Friday, September 11 from 6:30-9pm
AWARDS
First Place Award – $1,000
Second Place Award – $700
Third Place Award – $500
Dorothy Moye Memorial Award
