5 comments about The Pop-Up Kama Sutra: Six Paper-Engineered Variations.

1. Sounds awesome doesn't it? Don't you imagine that you'll see a pop-up reconstruction of "The Congress of the Elephant"? Unfortunately, the book is not constructed well, has few pop-ups to start with, and is distinctly un-pornographic.
   
   The things you wish would be popping up? They don't. No pop-up complicated sexual entanglements here.
   
   This book will only seem naughty to youngsters and folks who don't get out much --maybe even to older women who giggle when they see racy negligees at the mall.



2. This is a funny and creative version of the classic Hindu erotic text. Well, it's a pop-up book, so I guess I don't have to explain that part, but the book is no doubt more notable for the visual effect than the actual text. By the way, most people don't know there is an "Arabic Kama Sutra," entitled The Perfumed Garden, by Sheikh Nafzaouwi (not sure of the actual spelling anymore, so I apologize if I err there), but in many ways it's even more erotic than the much older Hindu text. (You'll understand when you make it to the chapter on "The Types of Vulvas." :-) But you can also check out that book if you're interested.



3. This book was horrible. Dont waste your money or time on it. Unless your looking to do a book report on the history of Kam Sutra. They show you nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!



4. I was greatly disappointed in this "pop up"book.
   The lack of information and the actual design was a failure.
   I would strongly recommend having a CD with this book to make it of any value.



5. We all know men never grow up past the age of 15 or so. What better to give them than a POP UP book about Kama Sutra! I got it as a gift for a guy friend of mine, and he absolutely loved it. Definitely nothing wrong with this book!

No comments about Chinese Contemporary Art 7 Things You Should Know.

5 comments about Philip Guston: Retrospective.

1. I thought the book covered a lot of ground with a fantastic sweep of images from his early career to the end of his career. So if you want a book that covers his whole career then this is the book for you.
   The essays are really interesting as well, with an analysis of his whole career, with particular reference to his later works.
   I really liked the number of later works that are included.



2. There are very few books available on Philip Guston's work and this one gives a good overview of his entire career. Guston influenced most of the important artists at work today in some way or other, especially in his late works and the reasons for this influence become obvious when one skims through the pages of this retrospective and discovers what a great artist he was.
   
   Many first-rate illustrations show the depth and scope of his art, with most of his seminal works (abstract as the canvas "Beggar's Joys" from the 1950's, figurative as the masterpiece "the Studio", from 1969) deciphered by a text which is informative as well as insightful.



3. This overall is a great book. It might not be the same quality that I have seen in a few other Thames & Hudson publishings, but it still is a great read and summary of Guston's work. Anyone that loves his work, this is for sure a book worth having.



4. The definitive book on Philip Guston with many illustrations from each period of his work. Many excellent essays including one in his own words describing the evolution of each painting.
   
   I bought the book after seeing the exhibition in San Francisco. Fully aware that the color illustratons were disappointing in quality (some paintings show pink ground color when that just isn't so) it is still a book I wouldn't be without. But be aware, color printing really isn't up to the quality found in many art books today.



5. The Guston restrospective, which I viewed at the SFMOMA in July 2003, was a rich, disturbing, illuminating exhibit. This catalogue of that show reprints a tremendous range (over 130 works) of Guston's work, all of it in fine, nuanced photography of the canvases. The early work includes realistic paintings with war themes, street scenes, and images of urban childhood in the manner of Ben Shahn. Eerily, Guston's hoods and bootsoles already appear. Next, the book's coverage of Guston's abstract phase reveals indebtedness to Mondrian's first abstractions; then Guston finds his own vocabulary in brisk, thick aggregates of rough rectangles on gently boiling backgrounds. Pink and red predominate, as in his later work. As part of both his oevre and Abstract Expresionism, these are among the most successful, aesthetic works of this great period in American art. For offering this total record of his development and contributions, the book provides something of great value.

   His brief but famous "Klan" period follows, and then the long final phase--the pink "lima-bean" heads, the skinny, runny-meat legs, the stubble, the huge stunned eyes. The book, like the show, exposes a startling range in these paintings, confirming that Guston's seemingly narrow palette and imagery served his imagination and themes with great breadth and force. Especially powerful are two drawings and a large painting of Nixon. The last work in the catalogue is a Guston-style deli sandwich, a small (18 by 18 inches?) but hugely sensual and humorous work that surprised me at the exhibit. The book also reproduces a number of crude yet painterly black drawings done in few but expressive strokes.

   The catalogue includes a useful chronology of Guston's life and work, many many photographs of him in various times and circumstances, and critical/historical exporation of his work via 4 or 5 articles penned by writers who cover varied topics relevant to his career and aims--all illustrated and all drawing on Guston's own statements and articles. His words include some provocative criticisms of the limitations of abstract art, a form which he of course abandoned in the mid 1960's. Abstract art fascinates me, yet Guston's statments gave/give me much to think about.

   My sole major criticism of this otherwise terrific book is that it fails to reprint several of the works in the exhibit. Most of the missing work is owned by SFMOMA, which was one of the host museums, so this is a real mystery. Further, the missing works are among the best of the exhibition--and are thus as good as anything included in the book. The single most egregious omission is 1975's "Head and Bottle," a grim, transfixing portrayal of alcoholism. Also gone are a work Guston painted inspired by T. S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" and an epic and (arguably) hopeful triptych called "Red Sea, The Swell, and Blue Water." These great works all appeared in the exhibit, yet are nowhere in the catalogue. A few others are missing as well, but I'm not familiar enough with Guston's work to identify or even accurately describe them just from my visual memory of this enormous and stirring show, and that is precisely what is so frustrating about the book. Surely one essential purpose of an exhibition catalogue is to honor the total visual experience of its exhibit.

   Of course, for each of these missing works, the book reprints several that are just as evocative and harrowing. Thus, as a monograph of Guston this is an excellent choice, one I will always find useful, beautifully produced, and engaging. I'm still very glad I bought it. But as a record of what the exhibit actually offered, as a way of re-experiencing the "Retrospective" of the book's title, the book falls a little short.

5 comments about Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects.

1. Great book for anyone who loves cinema, starwars or special effects.
   The whole history of George Luca's Industrial Light and Magic.



2. No one would ever have guessed that when Industrial Light & Magic opened its doors in Maren County that day way back in 1975 that they would produce the standard by which other special effects and other effects houses would be judged. ILM has formed the cornerstone of LucasFilm Ltd. a company that has spawned more spin-offs such as THX Sound, Skywalker Sound, all held neatly under the Lucas Digitial banner. Back in the days of Star Wars it was mostly using what was already known, and inventing everything else. ILM has been at the forefront ever since, from the early days of motion control cameras controlled by Apple computers the latest CG marvel like Galaxy Quest, Phantom Menace or Mission to Mars.

   The Art of Special Effects deals more with the older films-those before 1986, illustrating a time when computers were not so large a part in the film-making process. It gives the reader a great look at the sheer amount of detail that went into the models, the props, costumes from Star Wars to Explorers, from Raiders of the Lost Ark to the some of the Star Trek films, ILM constantly and consistently proven to innovative. The book as a whole is on a level lower than, say, Cinefex magazine, assuming that the reader doesn't know how blue screening and rotoscoping works or how miniatures are lensed. It is light reading without getting itself bogged down in too much technicality, for those who want that, read Cinefex.

   It also strikes me that this book is also best at presenting a dying era. A time when model makers kit bashed hundreds of plastic models just to build a Super Star Destroyer - few companies bother with that any more when everything can be rendered on a Silicon Graphics box and Maya and Soft Image software. Such films as Star Trek: Insurrection used few practical models and a completely CG Enterprise-E. The time of the supremely detailed, hand crafted model or set may be at an end, and I think the industry will be sadder for it. Partially because when I read Cinefex, a lot of what I see is the same-different movie, different space ship, but they're all rendered the same way and most use the same software, with only minor modifications or original code going into it to get a certain look or solve a certain problem.

   I suspect the Digital Realm of the movies, while producing better special effects, lacks the mystique of knowing that several people labored for months to build that model. That instead it was modeled by a few people over a period of a week. (Though it should be noted that a lot of films, including the Phantom Menace, used practical models). I suspect their days are number.




3. Thomas Smith was general manager of Industrial Light and Magic a year before he came to write this impressive book. The book is centred around the film special effects creations of ILM between 1975 and 1985. This includes the then "Star Wars" trilogy, two Indiana Jones movies and other lesser known projects. For the Star Wars fan theres plenty to learn about one of your favourite movies. This book is lavishly illustrated with full colour photos including triple page or gatefold images. The focus though is on how the effects are done and who did them at ILM. From the art work in developing concepts of storylines, through modelling, creature creation, the actual filming methods and matte image creation to the finishing touches of animation and optical compositing this book gives a gradual demonstration of the work of a special effects company. For someone with no knowledge what so ever of special effects this is a good introduction and to those involved it must be fascinating as well. As Thomas Smith points out, while film fans still love the movies from this era (1975-85), movie goers constantly seek new visions on screen. The digital era has brought movies like Toy Story etc but these were just figments of imagination at the writing of this book so its worth noting Thomas Smith's far-sightedness in the final chapter on digitized movies. The format of the book is to take each department of the special effects process and show what it does and where its part comes in the crafting of a movie. In each chapter there are short biographies of the leading people in each area of effects, this is a nice touch as it can serve as guide for those interested in getting involved. Its worth noting, many of those profiled have a long interest in their specialty going back to their youth and through the various twists and turns of working in an industry knew of other members of the ILM company before actually joining this now esteemed organisation. Thomas Smith by no means is setting out to sell ILM's considerable expertise though he tells the story of a company making dreams into reality, itself moving from an idea to a serious business proposition. (As a final note another book on movies of this period Paul Sammons "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner" contains insightful descriptions about the crafting of a movie not least its special effects.)



4. Years ago I longed for this book, as it sat on the shelf in the local book store(it was not cheap). I received it with much gratitude on my birthday. Now as a teenager I found a reinterest in this book, and was overjoyed when the next book "into the digital realm" came out. For anyone who is captured by the magic of special effects, this is for you.



5. Pér tutti quelli che vogliono sapere come fanno i film, per tutti quelli che amano Star Wars con tutti i suoi segreti, direi che questo è il libro che fà propio al caso vostro.Scritto in un inglese molto facile è un libro che può veramente appassionare

No comments about M.C. Escher: The Graphic Work (Special Edition).

No comments about A Home: Paintings from a Bygone Age.

2 comments about Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement.

1. This book is an excellent overview of the lives and careers of some key Surrealist women artists - and it was a wake-up call for me, when I realised that, despite several years of tertiay study in the field of Art History, the only artists I knew anything about was Frida Kahlo.
   A good summary of some neglected figures in art.



2. Women Artists and the Surrealist Movement contains interesting and useful biographical information, color illustrations and some of the major female contributors to the surrealist movement including Frieda Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, and Leonor Fini. Chadwick provides the reader with useful biographical information that may have influenced the artists work. Women Artists contains an easy to use index , a list of the illustrations and their location in the book, and a brief biography of each author. This book is a wonderful reference for research or for personal interest.

No comments about Traditional Japanese Arts And Culture: An Illustrated Sourcebook.

No comments about Painting as Model.

5 comments about Foro Italico.

1. George Mott's 1982 photographs of some of the most beautiful of the male athletic statues that surround the Foro Italico is the subject of this book. Mussolini, attempting to glorify the althetic male body in his Stadium of Statues, was disappointed that the 1944 Olympics in Rome were cancelled because of World War II. Yet the stadium and these 12 foot marble statues remain and are captured well by Mott's black and white presentation.
   
   The core of the book is 32 photographs of these graceful statues of athletic men. The Boxer is certainly one of the most impressive and is featured not only on the book cover but by two photographs inside the book showing the statue of heayweight champion Primo Carnera from two views. The Diver is of a youth that looks like an image from classical antiquity. Hercules is shown twice, once as the discus thrower and then again with the head of the defeated lion covering the back of his head and shoulders. The Boxer donated by Mantova is a strong work of art, showing the expanded brow and broken nose of a powerful and confident man. The Bare Fisted Boxer by Bellini also is a work of masculine power with the characteristic expanded brow and broken nose, adding to the masculine attraction rather than distracting. The Soccer Player by Morescalchi again evokes the sublime youth of classical antiquity.
   
   If someone was purchasing this book purely for male erotica, I would think they will be disappointed. The figures of young male athelets in the prime of their youth and power are certainly compelling, but the statues are of unequal appeal and Mott selects only half for this book. The images are of marble statues and whereas the bodies are stunning, they are also stylized in a manner later seen in Soviet social realism. However, in 4 or 5 images, the essence of male beauty is captured in these marble giants in powerful almost architypal simplicity and grace.



2. For anyone who has seen the statues of the Foro Italico in Rome, this book will come as a surprise. A visit to the Foro will not impress the viewer in the same way as this book. The photographer has captured the allure and grave dignity of the most beautiful (they are not all of the same high quality) of these statues in an array of close-ups and full figure shots. The essays by Sabatino and Ballerini are fascinating and well written. The book itself is magnificently produced. Mott seems to have taken the photographs before the statues were disfigured by the effects of air pollution. One wonders how long it will take the Italian authorities to realize the value of these works from the 30s and restore them?



3. For anyone who has seen the statues of the Foro Italico in Rome, this book will come as a surprise. A visit to the Foro will not impress the viewer in the same way as this book. The photographer has captured the allure and grave dignity of the most beautiful (they are not all of the same high quality) of these statues in an array of close-ups and full figure shots. The essays by Sabatino and Ballerini are fascinating and well written. The book itself is magnificently produced. Mott seems to have taken the photographs before the statues were disfigured by the effects of air pollution. One wonders how long it will take the Italian authorities to realize the value of these works from the 30s and restore them?



4. The book is beautifully printed and bound, but the photographer (Mott) uses almost exclusively head and upper-chest shots of the statues. In the rare occasions where the full body is displayed, a side or back view is often shown. Half of the photos are in color, which is a waste. These statues demand black and white film. Only a small fraction of the 60 statues were photographed. Luigi Ballerini's long (6 pages) piece was so long-winded and convoluted, I had to read it three times and I still don't understand what he was trying to say. For such a short book, I was surprised to find detail shots of a hand with a ball in it and a hand with a discus in it. What is the point? The 8-page article by Michelangelo Sabatino was interesting, but I would have preferred more full shots of more statues instead. Mott, clearly, has spent too much time in the United States to have an understanding of the meaning of eroticism. I'd love to see these statues photographed by a northern European!



5. This book reveals a little known part of Roman and Italian history that is incredible. The photos and the information presented are fascinating and this book makes a wonderful addition to any collection of art books, photographic volumes or Italian cultural texts. The composition and presentation of the photographs is truly striking and erotic without being in any way prurient. It is absolutely a true work of art about incredible works of art!