Book Description
The Museum of Lost Wonder is a book with a mission, simply stated: To illuminate life's mysteries. The execution is nearly indescribable. Think McSweeney's production values and design pyrotechnics. Think traditional esoteric symbols in a childhood garden of wonder. Think graphic novel and an adult version of the coolest activity book ever made. And you'll be somewhere in the neighborhood.
Jeff Hoke has created a history of the human imagination with visual cues and clues and wonderment about and around everything you ever thought and everything you wish you'd been crafty enough to think. He has built a museum accessible to all, in book format, arranged with 7 halls (representing the seven stages of alchemical process) in which the questions of the universe unfold. All one needs to enter is some basic understanding of the human experience.
Open The Museum of Lost Wonder, and step into an alternative world full of beautiful drawings, interesting historical tidbits, thoughtful challenges to common myths, and projects and pursuits to complete at home. Pages pull out with cutouts for building models. Hoke's museum is graphic novel meets quantum physics meets mythical journey meets spirit.
Hoke begins with The Calcinatio Hall where the featured exhibit is The Beginning of Everything and leads us into halls like The Sublimatio Hall, with the exhibit How To Have Visions. In The Separatio Hall the exhibit Where Are You Going challenges us in our own journey. Through each hall we are led into an exhibit that questions our own understanding of life and urges us into new ways of thinking. As in wandering the great, immense halls of an ancient museum with endless corridors and fascinating exhibits, the reader is instantly pulled into this enormously imaginative pursuit. Each page is full of depth and questions. And each hall features a special fold-out interactive page.
The Museum of Lost Wonder is a ray of hope in a dreary world. It is an oasis in an age when we are inundated everywhere we go with messages of consumption and materialism. It is an invitation into the imagination of a brilliant artist as well as a welcome back into your own imagination. It is a call to challenge your mind and your mind's eye to re-assess what you believe to be true and what you know to be true. Once you enter the museum, there is no turning back. For the price of admission you get a whole new perspective on the meaning of life and your purpose in it.
Customer Reviews:
Museum of Lost Wonder.......2007-07-18
What do you think of when you hear the word museum? Do you see glass encased exhibits with little tags of text beside various artifacts? Can you hear someone complaining about the loud whispers that can be heard? Can you feel the boredom setting in?
The Museum of Lost Wonder is an example of a completely different kind of museum. The pages of this book lead the reader on a journey of exploration and freedom of thought. Instead of stuffy scientific displays, this museum encourages the visitor to wonder and ask all of those questions that they always wanted to ask but thought they'd sound foolish or be glared at for even coming up with the idea.
This book is divided into eight alchemy themed exhibit halls: Calinatio (technology), Solutio (aquaria), Coagulatio (zoological), Sublimatio (observatory), Mortificatio (history), Separatio (science and faith), Conjunctio (arts), and Circulatio (the entrance and exit). Within each of these sections readers explore scientific, mythological, spiritual, and fantastic renditions that explain our world. Many of the exercises encourage visitors to use their creativity to come up with alternative explanations, to explore their own questions, to try various experiments, and to construct models of the various exhibit halls.
Unleashes something between strange and wonderful.......2007-02-07
I'm not sure what this book set out to do, but it certainly fires up the imagination of anyone who looks at it. The drawings and constructions are masterful, the little experiments and mental expeditions are thought provoking and the organization is absolutely indecipherable. If you have a brain and it could use a little exercise, get this book.
Still thinking.......2007-01-22
A beautiful book, interesting, creative, but somehow a bit quaint. The last forty pages seem very disjointed, but maybe I just missed the point. The artwork is meant to be in an old style, 1900's style with broad and heavy lines and unrealistic imagery. Yet intriguing.
It is worth the price of purchase just because it is so intriguing while at the same time being sometimes a bit too cutesy in a seeming effort of being creative.
Give the book a try. It is worth the mental tweaking.
Admirable in spirit.......2007-01-02
First allow me to extend my thanks to the several other reviewers who gave lengthy and informative reviews of this book. Without them, this review would be much longer.
This book has filled for me a very personal need for synthesis in science and mysticism. It is excellent in both its content, but also its approach. Jeff Hoke has managed to balance his satire of both mainstream science and orthodox religion very well. Regardless of what your personal background may be, this book will make you question some aspect of your current paradigm of thinking.
Further merit must be extended to Hoke for his popular delivery of some very interesting and profound ideas connecting alchemy and psychology. Although these ideas are largely due to the work of Carl Jung, the simultaneous presentation of a physical process of transformation (alchemy) and a mental process of transformation (a quest for transcendence) reflects the authors deft abilities as a museum exhibit designer. Having done some museum exhibit design for a course at MIT, I see that the themes of repetition and symbolism, visual splendor and quality text-based content, show the mark of a true master.
For someone who is interested in general patterns of varying systems, this book is a true delight. The focus on archetypes found in multiple settings, whether it be the origin and evolution of things in the physical universe, or the stages of personal development one encounters throughout life and one's quest for self-actualization and transcendence, is truly inspiring. Having the isomorphism between the physical and the mental sketched out in broad strokes is what really earns this book its five stars.
Before signing off, I must comment on some of the negative aspects of the book. There are sections and quotes, which make me question the historical accuracy of the book. This is a minor point and pales in comparison to the book's better qualities. I am not a professional historian, so take the following critiques with a grain of salt. Hoke tries to bill Socrates as an important figure who, upon sentencing, "escaped [the Athenian government's] wrath by suicide." (page 76) A read of Plato's dialogues Crito, Phaedo, the Apology, etc. show that Socrates was ordered to drink Hemlock posioning as his sentence, which he faithfully obeyed (seeing it as a commitment to the democratic process of Athens). This historical fact is extremely important for understanding a large section of Plato's work. Hoke's portrayal of Socrates as a coward escaping punishment through suicide, left a really bad taste upon first reading. The book still has its merit, but a little fact-checking would have prevented this unnecessary blemish.
Finally, I have to vent a little on the all too common popular packaging of just plain false things about quantum mechanics. Mr. Hoke joins in on this saying that a century of quantum mechanics has taught scientists that "the key to objectivity is to be emotionally detached to the point where we don't taint our experiences with projections of personal expectations" (page 84). This statement is true of the scientific method in general, pre-dating quantum mechanics handedly. Hoke, like so many other popularizers tries to bill the idea that somehow the Schrodinger equation includes a variable for the experimenter's mental state, where it certainly does not. Fortunately for all of us, Hoke sticks mostly to what he knows and appeals only generally to science.
Delightfully Enlightening and Indulgently Educational!.......2006-11-13
If you're looking for some "adventurous" reading during the coming cold winter months, you don't have to look further than Jeff Hoke's "The Museum of Lost Wonder." When I was preparing my thoughts about reviewing this book, I kept trying to figure out just where I was going to place this book as far as literary genre is concerned; How to categorize it? -- Where does it fit? Externally, it looks like just another "coffee-table" contribution. But even coffee-table books can be categorized for the most part. This book, however, is almost encyclopedic in its coverage, drawing its information from a vast variety of resources, including philosophy, astronomy, religion, biology, physics, psychology, the arts, ancient alchemy, modern quantum mechanics, and even Eastern intellectual thought. I have decided, therefore, to place this book in the seldom-used literary genre called intellectual "potpourri" (and, yes, there is such a category).
As for me, I'm going to leave it on the coffee table in my living room for quite a while so it can be easily perused by my guests and myself. It will be a coffee-table book in my home, at least for a while, although it is much more than merely another "showpiece." You see, this is a book not meant to be read from cover to cover in, say, one or two or even three sittings. This is a book to be, well, "savored"; think in terms of tasting and appreciating a fine wine or some unusual hors d'oeuvres. The enjoyment of the experience should be spread over time.
I think the best approach to this book is this: pick it up, read the introductory parts, and then skim through it, briefly pondering the excellent (and should I say, "tantalizing"?) artwork offered, and stopping here and there to read some of the text as one's interest is piqued. Then come back to the book now and then, find a section of particular interest, read that section, maybe do a few of the suggested experiments (yes, there are some interesting little adventures here!), and maybe put some of the models together. Models? Oh, yes, this is much more than a book to be read. It is also an "activity" book and, I suggest, mainly for older teenagers or adults (most of the models would prove difficult for young children to assemble, in my opinion). There are seven models that can be put together to illustrate the seven themes (or "exhibit" halls) of the "museum."
And, yes, it is truly a "museum," although not like one most of us are familiar with. The purpose of this museum is clearly stated by the author: "Discover...forgotten things in the world around us. Recover...forgotten things in the world within you. Uncover...forgotten things not in this world at all." There is no doubt that the museum -- that is, the book -- lives up to its purpose. As the author's bio in the back of the book points out: "This is not just a book, but an experience." And that, it truly is. One of the experiences you'll have is being accompanied through the museum, er..."book," by "Gnomon," a cartoonish stick-figure who appears now and then in comic strips or individual panels and seems to function as sometime guide and sometime thought-provoking character.
Each one of the seven exhibit halls has a specific theme, beginning with "Calcinatio" (Hall of Technology), continuing with "Solutio" (Hall of Aquaria), Coagulatio" (Zoological Garden),"Sublimatio" (The Observatory), "Mortificatio" (Mausoleum of History), "Separatio" (Science and Faith), and ending with "Conjunctio" (Gallery of the Arts). Each of these exhibit halls has its own "Muse"; now, if you don't know what that is, you'll have to find out for yourself. Within these informative halls the reader will recognize the likes of famous philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, and Descartes, some very influential scientists, such as Abraham Maslow and Sir Isaac Newton, as well as discussions of topics both futurific and arcane. How about playing the "Heroic Vacation Game"? How about building a "Carousel of Life" model? How about performing a "sensory deprivation experiment" right at home? These and much more are here in "The Museum of Lost Wonder."
Now, a few words of warning to potential readers -- and these reflect strictly my own personal assessment of the book. If you have a closed mind, limited in its capacity for imaginative thought, this may not be the best book for you (although, I guess it could help open your mind a little if you gave it a chance!). If you are really squeamish about uncomfortable and unfamiliar ideas, you may want to think twice about reading this book (on the other hand, maybe this is just the antidote you need!). And, finally, if intellectual "weirdness" and wandering into "strange" territory will challenge your own beliefs and you're fearful of having to rethink those beliefs, you may want to pass this book by (but, of course, you'll pass up an opportunity to expand your horizons and enhance your life!). So, if you decide to go ahead and experience a trip through this "museum of lost wonder," don't say I didn't warn you.
In conclusion, just let me say that Hoke's book is delightfully enlightening and indulgently educational and the artwork is extraordinary, witty, and, in many ways, downright clever. And speaking of the artwork, which is really the bulk of the book (at least it seems that way), I'm glad that he was the one drawing it all because I wouldn't attempt to take on such a massive project (and it would be interesting to know how much time it took him to draw all the illustrations!). I highly recommend this book to everyone who really enjoys the experience of "wondering," that childlike phenomenon that we adults all too often lose, much to our own regret. This is a thought-provoking, mind-expanding, and thoroughly engaging book and, if you actually do the experiments and assemble the models, you'll get some physical exercise, too! What more could a reader ask for the cold winter months to come?
Book Description
This is a book about why history matters. It shows how popularized historical images and narratives deeply influence Americans' understanding of their collective past. A leading public historian, Mike Wallace observes that we are a people who think of ourselves as having shed the past but also avid tourists who are on a "heritage binge," flocking by the thousands to Ellis Island, Colonial Williamsburg, or the Vietnam Memorial.
Wallace probes into the trivialization of history that pervades American culture as well as the struggles over public memory that provoke stormy controversy. The recent imbroglio surrounding the National Air and Space Museum's proposed Enola Gay exhibit was reported as centering on why the U.S. government decided to use the A-Bomb against Japan. Wallace scrutinizes the actual plans for the exhibit and investigates the ways in which the controversy drew in historians, veterans, the media, and the general public.
Whether his subject is multimillion dollar theme parks owned by powerful corporations, urban museums, or television docudramas, Mike Wallace shows how their depictions of history are shaped by assumptions about which pasts are worth saving, whose stories are worth telling, what gets left out, and who is authorized to make the decisions.
Customer Reviews:
Mickey Mouse History.......2007-01-29
Is this guy for or against preservation? It's hard to tell sometimes. Gives another, if not confusing, viewpoint of the preservation movement.
Not a Mickey Mouse History, but a Donald Duck Rebuttal.......2002-09-16
Aside from a proverbial axe that Mr. Wallace is grinding (especially in the Reagan essay), the text employs a down-to-earth approach, avoiding the typical multi-syllabic lingo that is usually associated with academia. In addition, the broad purpose of his text is applaudable: the deconstruction of the myths and ideologies of history and the return to historical research and study.
However, I can say that while I agree with most of Mr. Wallace's viewpoints, I should also note that he has many fallacies in his case studies, particularly those with Disney. As a former Disney employee, I have to wonder how much time he truly spent researching the inner cogs of the "Mouse Machine," and who he spent time interviewing.
As a volunteer museum curator/collections manager, I must agree with other reviewers about Mr. Wallace's critical analysis of museums. "Could," "should," and "would" are great words when theorizing and idealizing about the historical preservation process, but until one actually experiences the real-world struggles of museum revitalization and artifact preservation, I tend not to pay any heed to the noisy cymbals of criticism.
Finally, as a graduate student of Popular Culture, and from an academic viewpoint, the lack of detailed citations and direct references in this book raises my concern about the integrity of the research that was done. The bibliography, while impressive in its depth, is not annotated enough to make up for the missing footnotes of works cited.
accesible, critical and still with a sense of humor.......2001-04-20
for someone interested in museum, spaces of exhibition and the like you will find section one and two of this book quite interesting. the first deals with different sorts of museums placing a critical point of view from communitary museums to opend air museums, to technology museums. the second part is great dealing with the forms of exhibition at disney. dystory, that special kind of reality that it is at once purified and sanitized and tha is quite part of the essence of thematized environments. parts three and four deal, respectively, with the restoraton movement in america and the politics of culture during regan's era, specially with the enola gay case.
Accessible and Thoughtful.......2001-03-02
Mike Wallace uses the kind of academic writing that all scholars should aspire to achieve--lively, free of jargon, and entertaining. His subject, as suggested by the book's title, is history and the debates that surround different depictions of history. Wallace observes, astutely, that the struggles over how to portray history reveals much about ourselves, our beliefs, and our agendas. Wallace points out that history is never neutral, a point that is well worth reinforcing.
My particular interest is Disney Studies, and Wallace has a section (actually two essays) devoted to Disney and it use of history. The first essay concentrates on Disney's use of history in its theme parks, particularly in places such as the Hall of Presidents and EPCOT. While Wallace does not shy from criticizing Disney's portrayal of history (in fact, one of Wallace's strengths is he does not shy from representing his own viewpoint clearly), he also does not simply dismiss the potential in integrating history, entertainment, and the kind of technological wizardy that Disney is known for. He makes a serious case for a reconsideration of Disney and its techniques, all without constantly hitting his reader over the head with things. In his second essay, Wallace concentrates on the failed Disney's America project, providing background information and a critique of Disney with a call to re-examine Disney's use of history as emblematic of other movements and struggles over American history. He also makes it clear that he believes simply dismissing Disney is not an effective strategy for considering how portrayals of history could engage the public. The strength here is that Wallace is not afraid to criticize both Disney and kneejerk criticisms of Disney, or to envision the melding of history and entertainment. Nor does he abandon the quest for critical presentations of history that open history to even further investigation. While this is no easy task, Wallace does succeed.
If there is one thing I would suggest, perhaps the element I feel is missing, is a better development of these strategies for the presentation of history that Wallace supports. Although that could indeed be a book in itself, it would have been nice to see more of Wallace dwell more on his own engagement with, even answers to, the questions he has raised in this book.
An accessible and essential look at the fight over history.......2001-02-15
This is a very easy-to-read, jargon-free book about various ways in which the American past has been marketed to the American public. Wallace makes clear that the past should not be sanitized or exaggerated for any purpose, no matter how noble. And he makes clear how dangerous distortions of the past can be, particularly in chapters that discuss Ronald Reagan's or Newt Gingrich's . . . shall we say, passing acquaintance with history as it happened, as opposed to how they wish it had happened.
That last sentence makes pretty clear that Wallace has an ideology of his own. He interprets much of American history in terms of the conflict between classes. He does not insist that his interpretation is the only valid interpretation, but the force with which he makes some of his ideological points keeps me from giving this a five star review. That said -- everyone should read this book. It pokes away at some of the myths that keep us from doing what we can to make American society even better. Mickey Mouse History might make you uncomfortable -- but it's a discomfort that has plenty of rewards in understanding.
Product Description
The three artists featured in Three Trees Make a Forest are professional illustrators with a penchant for travel and ambitious side projects in books and Comics. Ronnie Del Carmen is a story artist, character designer and illustrator at Pixar Animation Studios in California. Del Carmen has also worked in comics with DC and Dark Horse. Tadahiro Uesugi is a world renowned illustrator, based in Japan who creates intuitive drawings of landscapes, characters and urban scenery, all with an amazing sense of color and texture. Enrico Casarosa is also a story artist at Pixar and is the founder of Sketch Crawl, a worldwide marathon sketching event. Most of the work found in Three Trees Make a Forest was originally created for an exhibition of the same name at Nucleus Gallery in Alhambra, CA.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful and Sensitive are the Three Trees.......2007-09-21
Del Carmen, Uesugi and Tadahiro are the roots to the trees in this graphic rainbow of magic they have published. I only wish I could have seen the show it was from. I love the sensibility, the drawing, the passion and love you can feel in the intuitive glory of the work. Even if you are not an artist your mind will understand these three geniuses, and who they are as people.
I recommend that every commercial artist have a copy next to their drawing tables, with the tea, open window and Autumn breeze. That is the mood this collection creates.
It's worth your time, your money and your creative soul to enjoy Three Trees...
...when you get the book, look at it under a tree and relax and you'll see why I took time to write this review.
As an artist, I am thrilled to own this work.
-Gene D.
Inspirational.......2007-05-09
These illustrations are simply wonderful. This book is great for everyone who loves images, whether it be used as a coffeetable book or for inspiration for artists. I keep mine within an armslength of my desk.
Gorgeous collection of artwork! .......2007-03-17
The artists featured in this book are super-talented. Every work re-produced is worth gazing at and will inspire you.
I bought this book because of Ronnie Del Carmen being a part of it, I ended up finding two more wonderful artists to enjoy.
This is a wonderful book with outstanding printing quality and design. Fans of all kinds of art could certianly enjoy this. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates drawing and painting skill and pretty pictures in general!
Book Description
Pictured in two centuries of images, the hypermuscular and physically strong woman is studied here for the first time as a major player in popular culture and contemporary art. Using the bodybuilder as prototype, a rich variety of authors engage with her particular physicality, and how it resonates with social issues such as female pleasure and gender stereotypes. From the sublime to the gritty, this volume presents modern amazons as a culture with a history, a dazzling and transgressive current phenomenon, and avatars of the future.
Packed with illustrations, Picturing the Modern Amazon investigates the representation of hypermuscular women in a range of visual sources. Historical images and archival materials dating from the late 1700s through the present century illustrate older notions of female strength, providing a solid base of comparison for the modern materials. Contemporary art explores a diversity of issues surrounding the physically strong woman; artists represented include Matthew Barney, Louise Bourgeois, Nicole Eisenman, Annie Leibovitz, Alison Saar, Andre Serrano, Cindy Sherman, and Nancy Spero. Comic artists address the amazon through comic strips, comic books, and unique art works that focus on muscular female characters and superheros; artists include Robert Crumb, Diane DiMassa, Roberta Gregory, John Howard, and Turtel Onli. Photographs of some of today's top bodybuilding competitors capture the stunning strength and definition of the hypermuscular woman.
Co-edited by Joanna Frueh, Laurie Fierstein, and Judith Stein, the volume's contributors are Michael Cunningham, Nathalie Gassel, Leslie Heywood, Irving Lavin, Maxine Sheets-Johnstone, Al Thomas, Jan Todd, Steve Wennerstrom, and Carla Williams. Interviews with noted bodybuilders-both the sport's pioneers and today's top competitors-provide a personal perspective.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing Amazons.......2002-04-23
A great compendium of pictures and information -- you don't get this stuff often. This book talks to your inner Terminatrix -- not only guys get muscles. Gals can be hardbody beautiful too!
An Intelligent and Sensitive Testimony to Strong Women.......2000-07-09
This museum-quality, coffee-table book is outstanding in every respect. Produced to accompany the New Museum of Contemporary Art exhibit, the book faithfully recaptures the power and immediacy of the exhibit photographs and art reproductions. The authors gathered the finest images from the long history of strong women, spanning the worlds of circus, of cartoons, of classical sculpture, and of modern bodybuilding. The illustrations and their captions convey a story in themselves, without ever needing to read the text. But what a storehouse of information is contained in the text! As a professional female bodybuilder myself, I have read nearly everything about my sport. This book gives an honest portrayal of the sport and of the ways in which female bodybuilders are presented to, and perceived by, the dominant culture. It effectively conveys the Catch-22 that enmeshes women of strength. Would a female sprinter be told, "Run fast, but not too fast. Don't try to run as fast as the men." How this situation came to be, and its effect on the sport's top competitors is carefully and responsibly presented here. The interviews with five very diverse representatives of women's bodybuilding are, in themselves, worth the price of the book. In addition, the authors present essays by the sports' acknowledged top historian, Steve Wennerstrom, and the sports' premiere sociologist, Leslie Heywood. The essays are daring, provocative, and brilliantly illustrated. Issues of race and class are addressed head-on. This is a strong book that doesn't apologize for itself or its subjects. This book will be enjoyed by anyone who has a fascination with women and strength.
Average customer rating:
- A STUNNING OVERVIEW OF 20TH CENTURY CARICATURES
|
Celebrity Caricature in America
Wendy Wick Reaves
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Schools, Periods & Styles
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
| Abstract Expressionism
| Ancient & Classical
| Art Deco
| Art Nouveau
| Baroque
| Byzantine
| Constructivism
| Contemporary Art
| Cubism
| Dadaism
| Expressionism
| Fauvism
| Folk Art
| Futurism
| German Expressionism
| Gothic
| Impressionism
| Mannerism
| Medieval
| Modern
| Neoclassical
| Pop
| Post-Impressionism
| Pre-Raphaelite
| Prehistoric & Primitive
| Realism
| Renaissance
| Rococo
| Romanesque
| Romantic
| Surrealism
General
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Exhibition Catalogs
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Drawing
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Drawing
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Pop Culture
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Cartooning
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Bibliographies & Indexes
| Publishing & Books
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
History
| Bibliographies & Indexes
| Publishing & Books
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Art & Photography
| Bibliographies & Indexes
| Publishing & Books
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Performing Arts
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
| Dance
| Magic & Illusion
| Theater
New York
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Hirschfeld On Line
-
Hirschfeld's New York
ASIN: 0300074638 |
Book Description
This delightful book presents hundreds of entertaining caricatures of celebrities from popular American periodicals in the first half of the twentieth century. Employing a vivid new type of portraiture based on modern design and a preoccupation with personality- based fame, master caricaturists filled the pages of newspapers and magazines with renderings of Mae West, George Gershwin, the Marx Brothers, Babe Ruth, Mussolini, and other personalities of their times.
Customer Reviews:
A STUNNING OVERVIEW OF 20TH CENTURY CARICATURES.......1998-04-24
This is the best single overview of 20th Century American caricature I have ever seen. The quality of the reproductions is outstanding and a good many of the items herein are not available in other books. The book's cutoff point appears to be the Fifties; it would have been nice to have had some more recent examples by artists such as Edward Sorel, but perhaps the newer people are adequately covered in other books. Anyone interested in caricature cannot do without this book.
Average customer rating:
- Andy Warhol: 365 Takes: The Andy Warhol Museum Collection
- Shows the Andy Warhol Museum collection
- AN ANDY A DAY ... MOST ARTFUL, INDEED!
- Warhol Lives
|
Andy Warhol 365 Takes: The Andy Warhol Museum Collection
Staff of Andy Warhol Museum
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| History & Criticism
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Themes
| History & Criticism
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Museum of Contemporary Art
| Exhibition Catalogs
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Pop Culture
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Artists, A-Z
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary Art
| Schools, Periods & Styles
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Arts & Photography
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol : (From A to B and Back Again)
-
POPism: The Warhol Sixties
-
The Andy Warhol Diaries
-
Andy Warhol: Giant Size
-
Andy Warhol Portraits
ASIN: 0810943298 |
Amazon.com
If you're a fan, your bookshelf is crying out for Andy Warhol: 365 Takes. And if you're not, this artfully designed volume may very well turn you into one. Read it straight through or dip in anywhere. Either way, you get an illustrated tour of Warhol's friends, lovers, personal history and obsessions (shoes, religion, jewels, mortality), as well as his art. Organized in a vaguely thematic way that blithely ignores chronology, this compact volume serves up a four-decade feast of creativity in bite-size nuggets: a very Warholian approach. Facing pages juxtapose a Warhol image with a well-chosen morsel of text. Drawn from diverse sources, including The Andy Warhol Diaries, the texts illuminate the images with useful tidbits of insider information. Reproductions of Warhol's work reveal his extraordinary range and inventiveness, from the delicate, lyrical drawing for a jazz record cover from the 1950s to rueful self-portrait photos in drag from the early 1980s. Of course, much of the famous work is here as well—the Death and Disaster Series, the Brillo boxes, the Three Marilyns, the celebrity portraits of the 1070s, the collaborations with the Velvet Underground. One of the most intriguing aspects of the book is the way it uses Warhol's vast personal collection of ephemera to show how a newspaper headline, shop window or movie star magazine could inform the look of his art. This great compendium of Warholiana is marred only by the occasionally smug, fanzine tone of remarks by The Andy Warhol Museum staff. There's no need to overstate the case for Warhol; his outsized reputation is secure. --Cathy Curtis
Book Description
Andy Warhol was one of the most compelling figures of the 20th-century art world whose body of work transformed the landscape of contemporary art. He was also a notorious collector who saved practically everything that came his way. In 1994, seven years after the artist's death, The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh became the repository not only for a substantial body of his artwork and films, but also for the Time Capsules into which he obsessively deposited a lifetime's worth of ephemera and personal memorabilia.
For this book-created in the same format as Abrams' best-selling Earth From Above: 365 Days-the museum has gathered highlights of its collection. Illustrated with almost 400 objects, from paintings to party invitations, the volume also features lively commentaries by the museum's staff as well as quotes from Warhol's own irreverent writings. Timed to coincide with the celebration of the museum's 10-year anniversary, this book will serve as both an introduction to and a handbook for the most extensive collection anywhere of this iconic artist's work.
Customer Reviews:
Andy Warhol: 365 Takes: The Andy Warhol Museum Collection.......2007-01-10
Huge book - don't let appearance on the internet fool you, it's a brick (about 3inches thick!) and packed full of information; Andy's life, his work, his love his passion it's amazing.
The book takes you on a journey through early years to his death and how his art transformed throughout his career. It shows Andy's sketches and un-released art and art from his private collection.
Fascinating and a brilliant coffee table book.
Stunning 5 stars
Shows the Andy Warhol Museum collection.......2004-12-05
This is a thoughtful book which does not leave much out until you get to the index on pages 740-742. The pages are long horizontally, usually presenting text and a large number running from 1 on the page after page 5 to 365 on the page two pages before page 736. The index lists the big numbers only, the "Take" number. Are punching bags in the index? No. Is Jean-Michel Basquiat in the index? Yes, for six Takes under "Basquiat, Jean-Michel" and for three of the same Takes under "Jean-Michel Basquiat" (portraits, only one of which includes "and urine on canvas"). Is The Last Supper in the index? Yes, for three Takes. Do any of the Takes listed for Jean-Michel Basquiat coincide with Takes listed for The Last Supper? No, neither three or six, none! Which Take has ten punching bags? Take 255!!! How many times is Take 255 in the index? Just once, for "Ten Punching Bags (Last Supper)." Obviously, to use the index you need to know precisely what you are looking for.
In my previous review of a DVD on Andy Warhol as a great artist of the 20th century, I believe I understated how many times the word "JUDGE" appears on the ten punching bags. In the view shown in the photo in Take 255, I can count 5 times on the first, 6 times on the second, then 3, 5, 4, 4, 1, 1, 3, and 4 times, respectively, on the third to the tenth bag. Most of the bags look black and white, but the eighth bag has a blue crown or dark halo which might obscure a second "JUDGE" or "JESUS," a blue shape like a torso with head, the words "LEAD" and "ASBESTOS" and possibly BS, with a copyright insignia after the "JUDGE" at the bottom of the eighth punching bag. The bags are hanging so close together that a physics student is bound to wonder how many bags would start swinging if viewers had the opportunity to give a bag on one end a good punch into the rest of the line. The head of Christ appears to be largest on the first, fifth, and sixth punching bags, with the second and eighth having the smallest heads, to produce a standing wave effect even when the 14 inch diameter by 42 inch long bags are hanging stationary from chains to big beams in the ceiling. The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh used to be a big warehouse, and Ten Punching Bags (Last Supper) might still be hanging there, because Entry 255 is not listed in the Photograph Credits, unless the bags are included in the bragging rights claimed by "Except where otherwise noted, ownership of all material is The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh." (p. 742). I hope they never catch me walking into that place with my practice gloves on.
AN ANDY A DAY ... MOST ARTFUL, INDEED!.......2004-11-03
Think of this as an Andy a day keeping the aggravation away. Compiled by the staff of the Andy Warhol Museum (located in Pittsburgh, PA, and this year celebrating its tenth anniversary), this is a monumental, if scattered, collection of everything Warhol, deliberately non-traditional and open-ended. Fashion sketches from the `50s, Polaroids, the Brillo boxes, stills from his movies and television appearances, silkscreens and pencil drawings, the Death and Disaster Series, the Three Marilyns, the collaborations with the Velvet Underground ... it's all here, and it's all interlaced with quotes from Warhol, and "experts" on Warhol. The experts, today, sound like bozos, but there is humor and humanity in all of Warhol's comments. 365 Takes is a big book, perhaps too big, since Warhol is best savored in smaller doses. Still, the book certainly whets one's appetite for more concentrated, linear works of this great artist. Warhol's take on the middle of the twentieth century is astoundingly accurate and informed. Certainly very much the artist as an outsider observing the current culture, his views are surprisingly kind and simple. Let's face it: We all love gossip, dirty pictures and celebrities. Maybe we couldn't admit it back then, but it was true. And, of course, we all love Campbell's Soup.
Warhol Lives.......2004-10-30
Even at list price, this book is a great bargain.
The binding of this book is itself a work of art. It's also just one clear demonstration of how much care this staff puts into what they do.If you are an artist, you'll want to get the staff of the Andy Warhol Museum to come work at your museum.
The web site of the museum is another sign of how special this staff is. They even include a step by step opportunity for you to learn how Warhol made his silkscreens by making one yourself. As a Web application and as a learning experience, it's a standout and you can email the result to friends.
In this book, they had the wisdom not to try to present the definitive Warhol. That's why it is 365 takes and not 1 take.
Wouldn't you have liked to have lived your life so richly that 365 takes were needed to give a sense of who you are.
Granted, each of these takes (images on one page and text on the facing page) can't go very deep. However, they aren't fragments, each tries to be complete in itself. Chronology and flow are eschewed. The staff isn't trying to sell you on how Warhol was or how he got to be as he is, they are simply sharing with you these views, via his work, so you can perhaps develop a sense for yourself of what Warhol is about.
What really sinks in after just one pass thru these 365 takes, is that Warhol was about a lot. He had incredible coverage.
Because this book is so beautiful, the trashiness I'd come to associate with the Warhol scene isn't that apparent. The differences (from conventional lives) are. The productivity is. The fascinations are. The richness of experience is. The lack of judgmentalism is.
Seeing the web site and this book makes me wish a lot to visit Pittsburgh and see the Andy Warhol Museum first hand. And if this staff indeed somehow were all at another museum, I'd certainly want to go there. This museum staff is outstanding and one way you can tell how outstanding they are is to get this remarkably inexpensive high-quality book.
Book Description
What kind of property is art? Is it property at all? Jordanna Bailkin's The Culture of Property offers a new historical response to these questions, examining ownership disputes over art objects and artifacts during the crisis of liberalism in the United Kingdom. From the 1870s to the 1920s, Britons fought over prized objects from ancient gold ornaments dug up in an Irish field to a portrait of the Duchess of Milan at the National Gallery in London. They fought to keep these objects in Britain, to repatriate them to their points of origin, and even to destroy them altogether. Bailkin explores these disputes in order to investigate the vexed status of property within modern British politics as well as the often surprising origins of ongoing institutional practices. Bailkin's detailed account of these struggles illuminates the relationship between property and citizenship, which has constituted the heart of liberal politics as well as its greatest weakness.
Drawing on court transcripts, gallery archives, exhibition reviews, private correspondence—and a striking series of cartoons and photographs—The Culture of Property traverses the history of gender, material culture, urban life, colonialism, Irish and Scottish nationalism, and British citizenship. This fascinating book challenges recent scholarship in museum studies in light of ongoing culture wars. It should be required reading for cultural policy makers, museum professionals, and anyone interested in the history of art and Britain.
Book Description
In recent years, a number of artists have abstracted images culled from slapstick, comic strips and films, cartoons and animation into a new representational mode to address perplexing issues about war and global conflicts, the loss of innocence and ethnic and cultural stereotyping. From Julie Mehretu's intricately layered paintings and Arturo Herrera's psychological collages made of Walt Disney coloring books to Ellen Gallagher's seductively Minimalist paintings, permeated by "blackface" signs culled from minstrel performances, to Rivane Neuenschwander's wiped-out cartoon characters, the world of comic abstraction reflects the intensely personal relationship that many contemporary artists maintain with political currents. This publication, which accompanies a Spring 2007 exhibition of the same name at The Museum of Modern Art, presents the first major investigation into this new model of representation. It features recent work by 13 artists and a selection of 30 large-scale works and installations that bridge the rift between abstraction and comics in ways that are at once critical and playful. It also includes a critical essay, interviews with the artists, and a selected exhibition history and bibliography. Features work by Polly Apfelbaum, Inka Essenhigh, Ellen Gallagher, Arturo Herrera, Michel Majerus, Julie Mehretu, Juan Munoz, Takashi Murakami, Rivane Neuenschwander, Philippe Parreno, Gary Simmons, Franz West and Sue Williams.
Amazon.com
In the non-Aristotelian, non-Euclidean, non-Newtonian space between the walls of the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles exist bats that can fly through lead barriers, spore-ingesting pronged ants, elaborate theories of memory, and a host of other off-kilter scientific oddities that challenge the traditional notions of truth and fiction. Lawrence Weschler's book, expanded from an article for Harper's, is, at turns, a tour of the museum, a profile of its founder and curator, David Wilson, and a meditation on the role of imagination and authority in all museums, in science and in life. Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder is an exquisite piece of "magic realist nonfiction" that will prove utterly captivating.
Book Description
Pronged ants, horned humans, a landscape carved on a fruit pit--some of the displays in David Wilson's Museum of Jurassic Technology are hoaxes. But which ones? As he guides readers through an intellectual hall of mirrors, Lawrence Weschler revisits the 16th-century "wonder cabinets" that were the first museums and compels readers to examine the imaginative origins of both art and science. Illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
The author is in on the joke ... if it is, in fact, a joke.......2007-06-16
Splendid little read, profound in its own way, and outright devilish. Absolutely in keeping with its subject matter; anything shy of devilish would have been cheating.
The Museum of Jurassic Technology, to trim descriptions to the bare minimum in the interests of time and of not spoiling the fun, is a museum that may or may not be entirely a joke on the part of its owner. If it is a joke, it is the most ornately gilded, realistically depicted, and intellectually rewarding joke yet perpetrated on the good citizens of California.
Lawrence Weschler may or may not, himself, be in on the joke. The whole thing, if it is not a joke, is a delicious insight into what the modern world has gained and lost, and an attempt to restore some of what's disappeared.
Well worth the two hours of reading. If I had more time, I would certainly recreate the research that Weschler did when he started to get obsessed with the MJT.
A most amazing journey with an elloqent guide.......2007-04-20
Honestly, when I worked in Culver City, I would drive by the Museum of Jurassic Technology and wonder just what was in there. I read the articles in the L.A. Times and still I could not understand what it was about. And even when I finally got to the museum, I was mystified. What was the connection? What was it all about? Finally, I have my answer. And more. This book was a superlative read. Mr Weschler never flags in his focus and his precision of language and yet doesn't overwhelm his subject matter. It would be so easy to try and write a fictional story about the museum as opposed to trying to distill and tell the real story. It is very slippery! You will not be dissappointed in this book. And you don't have to go to the museum to enjoy it. But if you read the book, you will be COMPELLED to visit the museum.
An Education.......2007-01-04
Although Mr. Wilson's Cabnet of Wonders is at first slightly confussing and plotless, much like the type of museum disscussed in the book, it is eventually leaves you with a sense of...well...wonder. The book is construsted to take you through the wonders of a "wonder cabnet." I found it to be an education on what it mean to learn, that wonder is a nessisary component.
A Journey into Wonder.......2006-05-11
Lawrence Wescher is not writing a complete treatise on wondercabnets for use in an academic historical society of previously learned fellows. It is much too short and easy to read for that. He is coming at the subject as a newcomer and hoping to bring some of us in with him. I for one am right there. Mr. Wilson's Cabnet of Wonder serves as a perfect introduction to this ultra-fascinating subject that has surprisingly huge implications on our everyday understanding of history. His short summations of the history of the museum itself, and what might be housed within them, are to the point and well researched (I would like to think he threw in a few of his own "made up" references just to keep in the spirit of things although). The anecdotal stories of his mystic encounters with Mr. Wilson are humorous and enlightening. Weschler encourages a healthy skepticism about each exhibit in the MJT (Museum of Jurassic Technology), and indeed about every bit of knowledge we are taught as fact in our upbringing. The wonderful thing about this skepticism is that it leads him on an astonishing journey into The Church of Wonder. He made me a believer in Wonder as a state of mind/heart that perhaps shouldn't be questioned too much, lest we lose it. Be it wonder of Nature's endless imagination or that of man's, I'm hooked.
Therefore, Weschler not only writes about Mr. Wilson's wonder-filled collection, or simply the history of other collections, but they are merely the means to an understanding of that blissful state itself. I began to understand this book as a more of a religious conversion, than a "fact" filled catalogue.
Knowledge through Tangent and Explosion.......2006-02-24
This book is so fantastically interesting. The way Weschler describes the modern curiosity cabinet of David Wilson is not through bland description; much like Wilson himself, Weschler weaves stories and ancedotes into his narrative. The book wraps itself up with a spiraling metaphor which does nothing except leave the reader wanting to visit Mr. Wilson's museum and explore the world of knowledge through tangent and mere coincidence.
Average customer rating:
|
Faces of Time: 75 Years of Time Magazine Cover Portraits
National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)
Manufacturer: Bulfinch Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| Regional
| History & Criticism
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Exhibition Catalogs
| Museums
| Museums & Collections
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Illustration
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Graphic Arts
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Pop Culture
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0821224980 |
Customer Reviews:
Wow!.......2003-09-17
I bought this book for my classroom and wondered later why I picked it up. When I really looked through the book, I found some really great art focusing on important personas from the 20th Century. It is a really nice book to have. A keepsake.
Summary.......1999-12-12
'Celebrating Time's 75th anniversary, this book presents work commissioned for the magazine's cover by some of the century's best-known artists, ranging from Andrew Wyeth's portrait of Dwight Eisenhower to Andy Warhol's Michael Jackson.This book presents seventy-five artworks commissioned for the magazine's covers by some of the century's best-known artists, from Dwight Eisenhower by Andrew Wyeth to Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol. Faces of TIME accompanied an exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D. C. Among the outstanding covers reproduced are Roy Lichtenstein's dynamic 1968 image of Bobby Kennedy, Ben Shahn's Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gerald Scarfe's papier-mache caricatures of the Beatles. Jay Leno relates his feelings - and his mother's reaction - to being pictured on the cover of TIME. Frederick S. Voss provides a visual history of the magazine and shows how making it onto the cover of TIME has come to be the ultimate accolade.' - From The Publisher
Books:
- Nauti Boy (The Nauti Trilogy, Book 1)
- Orange County Choppers (TM): The Tale of the Teutuls
- Out of the Ballpark
- Pink Box: Inside Japan's Sex Clubs
- Pop Memories 1890-1954: The History of American Popular Music
- Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles (American Crossroads)
- Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
- Schmucks!: Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars, the Armed and Dangerous, and Good Guys Gone Bad
- SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN: WALT DISNEY WORLD: THE FIRST 25 YEARS
- Spider-Man Confidential: From Comic Icon to Hollywood Hero
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Theory of Moral Sentiments
- Spreadsheet Modeling and Decision Analysis
- Neo-Noir: The New Film Noir Style from Psycho to Collateral
- Moctezuma's Children: Aztec Royalty under Spanish Rule, 1520-1700
- Off the King's Road: Lost and Found in London
- The Big Book of Colleges 2007
- Oak Forest Ecosystems: Ecology and Management for Wildlife
- Study Guide for Kinney/Prather-Kinsey/Raiborn' Cost Accounting, 6th
- Financial Statement Analysis: A New Approach
- Sharpe's Revenge
When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-ordinary Reality
Museum of the Missing: A History of Art Theft
The Secret Language of the Renaissance: Decoding the Hidden Symbolism of Italian Art
An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories
Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality
