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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PACKER SCHOPF GALLERY ART FULL Complete Guide, Brian Dettmer, 2011. reduce, reuse, recycle BRIAN DETTMER LEADS THE CHARGE OF ARTISTS WORKING WITH FOUND MATERIALS AT NAVY PIER'S ANNUAL SOFA EXPO. BY THOMAS CONNORS W ith its paints and solvents, a sculptor's power tools, or a potter's glowing kiln, the art studio is not a paradigm of sustainability. But in upcycling everyday objects, some artists have demon- strated that going green is not antithetical to the impulse to make it new. And just as green products have come a long way from the save-the-planet bland- ness of the yurt and Earth Shoes, these works possess an inventiveness and visual appeal that prove that the medium is not always the message. At this year's Sculpture Objects & Functional Art (SOFA) Chicago, you'll see Bill Miller's landscapes and portraits made from vintage linoleum, as well as Janna Syvanoja's jewelry fashioned from old telephone directories, each bauble echoing a microscopic creature or marine life from the deep. And then there's Naperville native Brian Dettmer, represented by Packer Schopf 66 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM Gallery, who takes old books (generally medical and scientific manuals) as his medium. Wielding knives, tweezers, and surgical instruments, he carves through these tomes to unearth a dynamic constellation of images and text that ask us to ponder both the once-permanent authority of the printed word and the ever-changing shape of information in the digital age. "Just by isolat- ing certain lines, a text becomes more poetic and takes on new meanings," notes Dettmer. "Sometimes it's Dada; sometimes it's a very intentional manipulation of that original text. That's what's interesting about language. One word can have so many meanings depending on context, and when that context shifts, the meanings of these phrases shift." Clearly, you cannot judge a book by its cover. SOFA Chicago runs November 2 to 4 at Navy Pier's Festival Hall, 600 E. Grand Ave., 312-587-7632; sofaexpo.com/chicago MA