5 comments about Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts.

1. If at times overly academic, Douglas Kahn's seminal work "Noise, Water Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts" should be required reading for any course related to sound and such audio-visual domains as film and television.
   
   In his book Kahn adresses the historical changes (or, development?) in noise abatement, looking at noise as a cultural, musiological and essentially political phenomenon (with an apparent inspiration from Jacques Attali). Accompanying the different types of noise abatement in Western modernity (as voiced e.g. by Arthur Schopenhauer), are also - as Kahn illustrates - different experiments into the use of noise, whether defined as a strictly musical or cultural phenomenon. In music we thus find such experimental composers as John Cage and Pierre Schaeffer (exploring different types of musique concrète), in film we find early auteurs as Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein and Grigori Alexandrov (through the use of natural sounds, asynchronism and different sonic counterpoints). Even in other - less obviously sonic - arts may we find otherwise elaborate experiments with sounds and noise(s). Take for example the vivid attempts at breaking the rigid rules of communication and narration through distinctly phonetical, verbo-literary experiments in the works of James Joyce and William Burroughs - or the creative disruption of the organic line in the paintings of say Gerhard Richter.
   
   Further examples could be found ad nauseum, and Douglas Kahn goes to great length in his interesting and well-documented explorations. Noise IS a part of the arts as much as our close environment, whether we register or hope to reject it.
   
   Kahn's pioneer-footsteps, thus, leave a vivid trail for others to follow, for in his book - if nothing else - he has shown how different sonic experiments (and, more specifically, different types of noise) are all around us. Instead of conservative strategies of silencing and abatement, we should listen!



2. The subject and content of this book is of great interest to me, and the book delivers quite well. The only fault I could find was in the use of a superfluously extensive vocabulary.

   I would compare it to listening to comedian Dennis Miller do stand up. It's often funny, but the guy is so knowledgeable as to leave me blank too often. It is so good, in fact, that I'm discouraged by what I perceive as something having a limited audience potential.

   Still, I give 5 stars without hesitation, since the book is a great read that got my creative juices flowing and brought me up-to-date regarding the history of art forms in which I am deeply involved.

   Setting aside the excessively rigorous verbiage, it is very well written. I highly recommend it.




3. The subject and content of this book is of great interest to me, and the book delivers quite well. The only fault I could find was in the use of a superfluously extensive vocabulary. I would compare it to listening to comedian Dennis Miller do stand up. It's often funny, but the guy is so knowledgeable as to leave me blank too often. It is such a good book that I'm discouraged by what I perceive as a limited audience potential.

   Still, I give 5 stars without hesitation, since the book is a great read that got my creative juices flowing and brought me up-to-date regarding the history of art forms in which I am deeply involved. Setting aside the excessively rigorous verbiage, it is very well written. I highly recommend it.




4. Kahn's text sprawls over 358 pages, and is filled with innovative insights into the auditory component of the 20th century avant-garde. I found the most brilliant section to be his critique of John Cage. Cage created music with the aim of "quieting the mind, to open it to divine influence." Kahn is the first to articulate what I have felt, that Cage, the zen anarchist, is just as manipulative with this goal as any tonal symphonic architect! As Kahn puts in,

   "...Cagean silence...has silenced other things, as it dwells at the problematic edge of audibility and attempts to hear the world of sound without hearing aspects of the world in a sound" (p. 4) Kahn turns on its head Cage's stated aim of "just letting sound be," speaking rather of "Cage's dominion of all sound and always sound," a project to turn all sound into music! (p. 197)

   Much of the rest of the book, the sections on "Water Flows and Flux" and "Meat Voices," is a wandering chronicle of various avant forms, and Kahn has fun with organic analogies. But it's a fascinating trip through little-known terrain, and Kahn is a fearless and creative guide!




5. This astonishing history of twentieth century art offers a deep and profound view of intermedia and multimedia through the aspect of sound. Kahn's narrative is beautifully written and well researched. He supports the text with a wealth of documentary sources that permit further research. This book is a seminal contribution to research in intermedia, multimedia, and media studies. KF

   Book review published in Design Research News, Volume 6, Number 8, Aug 2001 ISSN 1473-3862.

1 comments about SuperVisions: Topsy-Turvy Optical Illusions (Supervisions).

1. I bought this book for our 7 year old twins before we went on vacation. We had so much fun sharing this book. It is extremely clever. All of the illusions were fantastic. We have now become a family always lookng for illusions in the everyday things we see. If you are looking for a gift for a child of any age, they will enjoy wandering through the pages of this adventure in illusions.

1 comments about Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, Volume II (2nd Edition).

1. We used this textbook for a humanities survey course at my high school. My teacher said it was the finest he'd seen out of dozens, and after using it for his class, I have to agree. The art, maps, pictures, and everything help bring the past to life, and the text, while easy to read, says everything it needs to.

2 comments about Sketchbook-Hunter Green Lizard Cover-5x8.

1. I agree that these are great journals and sketchbooks. For some reason Amazon does not list the number of pages in the various Watson-Guptill sketchbooks, even though it is printed on the sticker. So this version has 224 neutral pH, nonyellowing archival-quality pages.



2. This little book is perfect for taking down notes on compositions or quick sketches when the moment strikes. It can go where ever you go either in your pocket or purse. A most perfect companion.

No comments about Botero: Abu Ghraib.

5 comments about Love from the Heart of the Home: A Keepsake Book.

1. This book by Susan Branch is indeed a quaint keepsake. It`s filled with easy recipes, quips, quotes, and fun stories. I especially like that each page is unique and pleasing to the eye. With her own whimsical artwork and hand written style, I found it most enjoyable!



2. This is a beautiful book to give at a bridal shower or as a wedding gift. There are wonderful drawings and the quotes and sayings are lovely. I especially love the "advice on marriage":

   When you marry him, love him
   After you marry him, study him
   If he is secretive, trust him
   If he is sad, cheer him
   When he is talkative, listen to him
   When his quarrelsome, ignore him
   If he is jealous, cure him
   If he cares naught for pleasure, coax him
   If he favors society, accompany him
   When he deserves it, kiss him
   Let him think how well you understand him
   But never let him know that you manage him.

   Susan Branch is the best.




3. This is the first book I have bought by Susan Branch and I could not put it down. Her ideas are so wonderful. In fact - I am going to buy every single one of her books. I love the quotes and sayings. There are so many wonderful ideas to share with your spouse. A definite must have.



4. This keepsake book is a great gift idea for someone who has recently gotten engaged or as an anniversary gift. It has adorable illustrations and the lists are actually useful (traditional anniversary gifts).



5. I used this book for Valentine ideas for my husband. The steak and potato recipes are divine! My husband loved it! This makes a terrific wedding shower gift, or just a fun b-day present. All Susan Branch books are wonderful and this is one of her best!

5 comments about Art as Experience.

1. Dewey discusses making art and viewing art are not unique activities -- that discipline, engagement and commitment are basic to art in the same way they are basic to other work.
   
   The book undermines the notion that Art is somehow arcane and academic. It's not, the book suggests. It takes work to make art, it takes work to appreciate it, but it is a democratic sort of work, and good art stands up, even when it is not cosseted in museums or galleries.



2. It's a little thick, but you have to consider it's based off of his lectures. From the point of view from a philosopher, he gives insight into things that we as artists might already know, but have never realized, and even other stuff that's impossible to see that only someone from the outside could see.



3. As a reviewer below stated, this is a very interesting book that treats art as a means of recapturing the experience of life and trasmitting that experience to the audience. He captures a number of concepts established earlier by Leo Tolstoy in his "What is Art?" and delves deeper into them, expounding on their more practical and less esoteric uses.

   Dewey, however, certainly earns his title as a pragmatist. His wording is complicated and, at times, careful. It is difficult to pin specific sayings or doctrines to him. However, once the task is completed, he has a great deal of important things to say about art and artistic experience.




4. if you are an artist this book will blow your mind.

   it is pretty theoretical, but if you can get through the first 20 pages.. and get into his vibe.. it's BEAUTIFUL.. (yum).

   This is probably the most important book i've ever read. You trust katie, you! you buy! you buy!!




5. Although somewhat dated in that what Dewey novelly stated long ago, we now accept as obvious, this is a great book to gain an understanding of art both as a producer and as a spectator.

   The central theme is that life is an experience, and that the goal of art is to recapture that experience. Hence, a painting of a flower is only valuable in the way that it captures the essence of a flower, or the experience of viewing a flower. The viewing of a painting must also provide some of the experience of making that painting ( its process ).

   If you can manage to finish the book ( the style is a bit archaic ), the experience is worth the effort.

2 comments about Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis.

1. Well, right off the bat let me just say that if you are a Robert McGinnis fan, you must have this book. The production standards are terrific and the reproductions of paintings, from the originals, are as crisp and eye-popping as you always hope for in an art book. The book is also a valuable companion volume to "Tapestry" released. last year and covers completey new ground in terms of illustrations reproduced. All this said, I do have a quibble with the thought that went into the layout. Fine coated art paper is used throughout and what did the authors do? They filled up huge portions of this gorgeous paper with a complete checklist of McGinnis paperback covers, rather than the illustrations us fans were looking for. The checklist is a valuable tool for those who wish to compile a complete library of McGinnis paperbacks, (say, 5% of the people who love the work of McGinnis), but it could easily have fit at the back of the book on cheaper stock, which would have left room for dozens (if not hundreds) of color McGinnis covers. Oh well! Still good, but it was "this close" to being great!



2. Robert McGinnis is one of America's most gifted illustrators and the breadth of his talent was well-documented in his art book, TAPESTRY. Pin-ups, Westerns, movie posters--the guy could paint it all. THE PAPERBACK COVERS OF ROBERT MCGINNIS, though featuring several paintings as well as pencil roughs and a couple of photo references, is not an art book, but rather is a rather pricey checklist geared toward paperback collectors. The majority of the color works are small reproductions of the actual covers as they originally appeared--and the focus is firmly on McGinnis' detective covers with the other genre's he's worked in getting barely a nod. Even so, I would have preferred to see large reproductions of the artist's trademark femme fatales unmarred by titles instead of the plethora of tiny second-generation reproductions found in this volume: the format and content is geared SO much toward the hardcore collector mentality that the editors/authors seemed to have lost track of the ART and the ARTIST they supposedly revere. A disappointment.

1 comments about Ceramic Millennium.

1. Simply the most erudite collection of essays on the history of Ceramic Arts in the U.S. and current issues theoretically and philosophically. As an artist, knowledge is power, and this is the most powerful (and ONLY) collection of essays available.

2 comments about Image on the Edge: The Margins of Medieval Art (Reaktion Books - Essays in Art and Culture).

1. I had to read this for a class. This is not for anyone unless you are searching for strict information. Camille manages to give countless astute observations that would be very helpful in building up a paper. But as historical book unto itself that guises itself as text interpreting Medieval Europe through rebellious artwork, it just doesn't hold much water. The confines here are soooooo narrow that unless you have already a great passion for artwork of this period you will be left quite numb.



2. For readers unfamiliar with the culture of the Middle Ages, it is surprising, and perhaps even disconcerting, to learn that a medieval manuscript of a prayer-book could contain marginal images of human excrement, or that medieval churches were frequently adorned with gargoyles depicting diabolic and uncanny figures. This book by Michael Camille, professor of art history at the University of Chicago, is devoted to explaining these strange "margins" of medieval culture. Camille essentially argues that, while such marginal images could on the face of it be interpreted as subverting the conventions of the dominating center of culture, they ultimately served to reinforce it. As the author puts it on page 127, "the edges of discourse...always return us to the rules of the center." In other words, medieval artists toyed with the margins of culture, with "otherness" and difference, yet ultimately sided with the "good" and the "normal." Interestingly enough, the marginal images which were so typical of the high Middle Ages disappeared at the beginning of the modern age. Camille suggests that the margins lost their function of hinting at the ugly reverse of mainstream culture in an age where the mainstream both asserted itself more strongly, rigorously demarcating "low" from "high" culture, and at the same time dissolved difference in the medium of bourgeois taste. Peasants and drunkards, for example, became the explicit object of a genre called the "grotesque." At the end of this fine book, Camille writes: "art collapsed inwards, to create a more literal and myopic dead-center [devoid of the medieval playfulness], taking with it edges and all" (p. 160).