AUBURN -- With the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center's new exhibit, books are more than just an intellectual escape, they are a form of art.

As he stood in front of three of his sculptures during his exhibit's reception on Sunday, Adam Bateman, of Utah, said he wanted to use books to condense the ideas of minimalism and language into one common theme.

"I wanted to get a dialogue between minimalism and language," Bateman said. "I wanted to see language as an object and the role of art in language. The books are supposed to be like bricks, and they are put together to make a large, flat geometric shape."

Bateman's three book sculptures, which take up the middle section of the museum, dwarf visitors as they walk through the display. Between the three pieces of work, Bateman estimated that he used more than 13,000 books to build the structures, which range from 6 to 9 feet tall.

"I was working towards creating an environment by creating a sense of architecture in space," Bateman said. "Instead of spreading the sculptures out, I put them close together. It is a step away from minimalism, but when you stand in the middle of it and are surrounded by the sculptures, you get a new sense for the art."

As she examined the different exhibits on display, Joan Lyons said she was impressed by Bateman's piece.

"(Bateman) is working with an idea or illusion," Lyons said. "He is making these flat geometric shapes with dimensions. He has this interesting relationship between the shapes and the books. The exhibit is really enhanced by the other objects on display here."

In addition to Bateman's sculptures, other artists were displaying their book-related photos, paintings and craft work.

Skaneateles resident Winiferd Bixler said she came to the exhibit to see the work of Sarah Bryant.

Bryant's exhibit included several small books that she made in addition to specially designed and textured pages. Some of the books were unique because they have special pull-out inserts that change the pictures inside of them.

"Her work is thoughtful, creative and expresses a lot with its depth," Bixler said. "She does a good job binding books. She has some very beautiful and very good craftmanship."

In a time when some people believe books are becoming obsolete as more information is placed on the Internet, Bixler said it was nice to see an exhibit that recognizes the art and tradition of books.

"It represents the history of book art," Bixler said. "It's art from a period of time. This is a very unique exhibit and it's nice to see the museum doing one on books."