3 comments about Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology, and Consciousness by Roy Ascott.

1. Finding accurate accounts of historical turning points warrants careful scanning and careful elimination. There is much information to be read in articles, books and in the minds of academics who can give tid-bits of how we got to where we are today in a world of art and technology. But there are few people who can provide us with a rigorous account that actually has (1) depth and substance; and (2) an actual birthing of an era. This book provides us with both.
   
   For the disciplined reader, Roy Ascott and Edward Shanken provide alluring, inventive and down right smart accounts of the time frame in which art evolved into a 21st century discipline; for the lazy reader, Roy Ascott's sentences are a crisp and inviting story of what it could behoove the artist to pay attention to.
   
   Natasha Vita-More



2. This collection offers a unique and valuable history of art and technology from the 1960s to the 2000s as chronicled through the brilliant writings of Roy Ascott. A pioneer of cybernetic and telematic art, Ascott is generally recognized as a leading figure in the field of new media. His theoretical writings are inventive, prescient, and provocative, and are required reading for students and professionals who are interested in learning about the ideas that shaped interactivity, media art, and net art.

   Shanken's introduction offers an erudite but highly readable and insighful guide to Ascott's work as an artist, theorist, and teacher, placing his many contributions in a broad context of art history, the history of ideas, and the history of technology. At 94 pages, this essay offers one of the most extensive art historical treatments of art and technology currently in print and makes an invaluable addition to the literature.

   The book may be a bit pricey, but it is well worth it and this is one volume you'll be glad to have in hard-cover.




3. E. Shanken writes like a baton twirler with a Ph.D.

2 comments about The Art of The Darkness.

1. As a big fan of comic books and comic book art, I've known for a while that the cover art of The Darkness series from Image is exceptional. How exceptional, however, was never quite known to me until I picked up "Art of the Darkness".
   
   This large format book is beautilfully produced, printed on glossy paper, and reproducing some of the most seminal of the covers and produced for The Darkness, with such luminaries as Michael Turnes, Marc Silvestri, and Dale Keown featured, among many others. I've very impressed with this book - I certainly got much more than I was expecting, and I holds a place of honor on my bookshelf. My only complaint is that it is too short - at only 96 pages, there were a number of other excellent covers that should have been featured - as the "catalog" of covers at the end of the book attests. Otherwise, however, a great offering form Image, who continues to put out great art books. Recommended for the comic book fan.



2. I bought this book thinking it would be less beautiful, but it's nice, an all right book. I had imagined it would be comic-sized but with extra pages as a big number or something, but it turned out to be a book with the size of an art book, and it does contain beautiful illustrations.
   
   The only reaosn for which this one is not getting the five stars marker is because it could have contained more pages!!! And sketches!!! And also because it showed some ilustrations small sized in an interview, or something, but those illustrations never got to make it to a full page drawing, and they were beautiful to begin with.
   
   But great nevertheless.

5 comments about Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica and the Masterpiece That Changed the World.

1. I'm midway through 'Picasso's War' and so far I'm really enjoying its content. It's a well-rounded account not only of Picasso's famous artwork, but of the history and social context and Picasso's life and personal situation at the time. However, I have one huge criticism, which is that this book is full of grammatical errors - namely split infinitives on just about every page. I don't expect every author who has something interesting to say to have a perfect grasp of grammar, but surely that's what an editor is for? The lack of good editing in this text has quite spoiled the experience of reading it for me. I read very widely and I can honestly say that I've never read such a poorly edited book in all my life. Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster or whoever you are, you've done a very poor job.



2. The book as a whole was rather well written, and, if someone asked me for a good nonfiction book about Picasso, there is a good chance that I would point them to this book. The book had good descriptions throughout, it was written for so that people who had very little understanding previously could understand what was going on, and the book was written so that it didn't have to be read all in one sitting. So, while I probably wouldn't pass it onto others, I feel that it was a good experience to read it.



3. Picasso's War untangles much of the criticism of the artist during WWII for remaining in France. It is an excellent discussion of Guernica--the paintings beginning as rough sketches to the final product. The tragedy at Gernica is discribed vividly, putting the reader at the scene. Martin's take on Picasso is balanced--his outstanding talent and chauvenism toward his many women are discussed. My criticism of the book lies with the total lack of illustrations. As an artist I wanted to see pictures of the initial sketches, the painting in process and a good reproduction of Guernica, not just what was on the cover. The lack of illustrations makes the book much less effective for a visual person, artist or art historian.



4. On April 26, 1937, 100 aircraft of the German Luftwaffe's Legion Condor conducted a three hour bombing attack on the city of Guernica, a small Basque town, then held by the Loyalist Republican Army. The Germans were pressured into conducting the attack by Francisco Franco, the Spanish rebel leader. Guernica was approximately 10 miles behind the front lines and was crowded with retreating soldiers and refugees. The day was the normal market day for the town and surrounding area. Local citizens crowded the marketplace, doing their weekly shopping.

   Two-thirds of the of the explosives dropped by the German bombers were 500 and 250 kilogram high explosive bombs and 20 pound anti-personnel bombs; one-third were 2 pound incendiary bombs. Approximately 1,654 people may have been killed and another 889 wounded in the attack. Reports indicate as much as 70 percent of the town was destroyed, with most of the rest heavily damaged. Fires ignited during the attack are reported to have burned for three days. Guernica fell to General Francisco Franco's advancing army two days later.

   From his home in Paris, Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist and master painter, translated the shock, horror, sorrow and outrage he shared with his fellow countrymen and most of the world's people, into a gigantic black and white mural he titled Guernica.

   Russell Martin tells the complete story of Guernica, starting with the events that lead to the creation of the painting and following Guernica as it moved from museum to museum, becoming ever more the important symbol it has become today - and one of the 20th century's greatest masterpieces. Martin examines Spain under Franco's fascist regime, the storied private life of Picasso, the messages of protest within the painting, and the controversy that surrounded Guernica.

   This painting symbolizes all that is horrible and evil in war, and the resulting suffering that occurs in wars everywhere. "Picasso's War" has been named a Book Sense 76 selection of the US Association of Independent Booksellers. It is extremely well written and fascinating - educational, critical and very personal. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
   JANA




5. Russell Martin has taken the history of the Spanish Civil War and a single work of art an woven them together into an entertaining and enlightening book. I am disturbed, however, by the author's Bibliographical Note, which begins "This narrative is intended for general readers rather than scholars, and for that reason I have chosen not to cite sources in the text or in accompanying notes. But I will be pleased to answer queries directed to me through the publisher about specific sources...." The author claims a great deal of detailed knowledge, from time to time stating with authority how Picasso felt in particular situations. It would be nice, even for a general reader, to know whether these conclusions were based on letters or interviews or the author's supposition...

No comments about Generations and Geographies in the Visual Arts: Feminist Readings.

No comments about Shoji Hamada: A Potter's Way & Work.

No comments about History of Art Vol. I, Revised w/CD-ROM & ArtNotes, Vol. I Package (6th Edition).

3 comments about The Mansions Of Denver: The Vintage Years.

1. "The Mansions of Denver" is a must for anyone interested in the history of Denver and Denver's prominent families during the "gilded-age." There are plenty of photos of the mansions of Denver, both those that are still standing as well as those lost to the greed of fools with no sense of historic preservation.



2. This is the book many of us have been waiting for. I, and many of my friends, have wondered about the history of downtown Denver, especially Captiol Hill, and particularly about the Victorian mansions in the neighborhood that we heard had been torn down years ago. Not many people we talked to had any information. This book has it all. It covers all the big houses and major names in the development of early Denver. It tells how fortunes were made and lost, and what happened to the many mansions that were built with money from mining, oil, real estate, and ranching. While some of these gems survive, most notably the Governor's Mansion and the nearby Grant/Humphreys mansion, hundreds were lost to urban renewal in the 1960s and 70s. While Bretz laments their losses, he gives us a glimmer of hope that those that have survived will be with us a long, long time.



3. Denver is blessed with an abudence of Gilded Age gradeur and this book does a fine job of focusing on the best of these. The images are crisp and clean and the text is very enlighening. It is a shame that some of these homes have been lost, but having said that, Denver should be proud that so many are extant. Highly recommended to anyone interested in Denver or just fine residential architecture in general.

1 comments about Art in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1945-1980: An Illustrated History.

1. ART IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA 1945 - 1980 is the last written document by the highly regarded, departed writer and critic Thomas Albright. Always an elegant writer, even when his message was quircky, Albright has left us with the definitve volume on the important art of San Francisco in the peak of its heyday. The chapters each represent a lecture presented by Albright and include indepth studies of Clyfford Still and the Explosion of Abstract Expressionism, Before the Storm: The Modernist Foundation, The Watershed: Funk, Pop, and Formalism, "Back to Nature": The Bay Area Figurative School, Conceptualism, Photorealism, etc. The written word is well illustrated with selected examples, but therein lies the only weakness of this book. In an overview this solid it would be so much finer were there double the number of examples of the artists being discussed. Still in all this is a magnificent volume and should be a part of every art library.

2 comments about In Your Face Too! : The Best Interactive Interface Designs.

1. This is the best book for digital design. Covers CD-ROM, Websites , DVD and Kiosks. Great inspiration. This is not a how-to book neither a lots-of-text book. It's perfect for web designers who want to create and innovate web graphics.



2. this book has a very rich content on the cutting edge of multimedia design. I really appreciate the CD ROM with related web sites

No comments about Chasing: Ancient metalworking technique with modern applications.