Art and books. Book and art. Two things that don’t collide all that often, and certainly not often with the ingenuity of some of the works in this exhibition. Featuring a range of contemporary artists, the exhibition asks what happens when artists ‘consider the meaning of books’.

A top tip for the exhibition is to make sure you pick up the free printed exhibition guide, available by the exhibition entrance. Not only does it contain an intro and a map of the space, it’s also the only place you’ll find any kind of interpretation of the exhibits, as the labels contain the bare minimum of information: title, artist and form.

The exhibition is divided into four sections, imaginatively named ‘Section One’ to ‘Section Four’. The sections are neither intended to be chronological, nor thematic, but to ‘allow each work to speak for itself’. There are meant to be ‘groupings and polarities’ between the works in each section, but this is neither obvious nor explicit.

The exhibition then is a collection of art works, each of which have some relation to ‘the book’. Some are books, some are sculptures in the form of a book, and one of which is plaster snowballs thrown against a white wall. They range from the interesting to the frankly bewildering.

The stand out piece is by Damien Hirst, from his New Religion series of works. Located at the centre of ‘Section Two’, the piece is a huge white chest containing a number of huge multi-coloured hardbound Bibles, each within its own drawer. Visually stunning, the piece seems to both revere and mock religion at the same time.

Other well-known artists represented include Francis Bacon, Anish Kapoor, Picasso, Matisse and Miró. The plaster-snowballed-wall is an original commission for the exhibition, from artist Not Vital.

Surrounding the exhibits is a wall-long projection of seemingly random words and phrases moving slowly about. It makes for an odd backdrop, the wordiness contrasting with the mostly purely aesthetic art works.

Curating an exhibition of art works based on ‘the book’ is perhaps an quirky endeavour, and the result tells you more about art than it does about books.

Blood on Paper: The Art of the Book is on at the V&A in London until 29 June 2008. Free admission.