1 comments about Fragments From The Delta Of Venus.

1. Fragments from The Delta of Venus is a collection of 20 watercolors by the famous feminist artist, Judy Chicago. The paintings were inspired by 20 fragments from the erotic short stories of Anais Nin published in the collection The Delta of Venus. These stories, written for a private collector of erotica in the 1940s, were published in 1974 at the height of both the Sexual and Feminist Revolutions.
   
   Judy Chicago found short fragments, five to seven lines long, that she found "riveting" and they became the inspiration for these paintings that "articulate a feminine perspective on sex." The paintings depict genitalia and sexual activity, and use color and line to create an image of sexual excitement and passion.
   
   Each painting is depicted on a page of its own, with the text from The Delta of Venus that inspired in on the facing page. These are preceded by a page that has the title of the story from which the text was taken. It is a very simple presentation with a list of the painting titles and the date of composition at the end of the book. The paintings were done over a three year period from 2001 - 2003.
   
   At the beginning of the book are one page biographies of Anais Nin and Judy Chicago. These are followed by a nine page memoir of Anais Nin written by Judy Chicago that tells of their friendship and Nin's influence on her. It also goes into why she created this particular set of paintings.
   
   This is a beautiful and erotic book. It is well-produced with a pink binding. PowerHouse Books has done a wonderful job of presenting these works.

1 comments about Contemporary Enameling: Art And Technique (Schiffer Book for Artists).

1. Interesting book because there are few who talk and show about this art. Interesting for images of contemporary american enamellers. The selections of artists is a little irregular in artistic level. Good reproductions of images.The Art of Enameling: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration

1 comments about Windows and Mirrors: Interaction Design, Digital Art, and the Myth of Transparency (Leonardo Books).

1. First, this book in not a novel.
   
   Second, some reviewers miss the subtle points raised in this text. Perhaps if unfamiliar with the theoretical bases to the discussion--and it should be mentioned that the theory informing this discussion is acknowledged at the outset, but pointedly left aside in favour of practice--one might, in fact, not grasp the extent of the points raised here.
   
   For example, it is rather beside the point that the discussion surrounds various installments at SIGGRAPH 2000--this should not be taken as an indication of an out-dated approach, as, again, some readers might be apt to think. In fact, what the authors discuss are the more generic (as in genre) questions and that digital art and design prompt, not to mention those raised by the historical and social imperatives "embedded" in a media-saturated culture like ours.
   
   The use of metaphors like windows and mirrors might be a bit too cute and/ or convenient, and the writing itself tends toward the over-simple and somewhat plodding (to the extent that some readers might wonder whether, a writer declaring a preference for a non-theoretical text is an excuse for a prose style targeted toward highschoolers). This is, of course, in spite of the writers' apparent desire to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
   
   So, yes, the book is easy to read, and while this shouldn't take away from its overall impact, I think it can. IN other words, by writing for a wider, less theoretically-inclined audience, the authors may irk those who fail to grasp the bigger issues this book reflects. This, they do even while excluding (potentially) those looking for something more outwardly sophisticated and capable of sustaining a place in the discourse from which Bolter and Gromala both come.
   
   All in all, however, Bolter and Gromala have brought us an interesting and thought provoking discussion that contextualizes digital design within the larger realm of the computer and its future as both a visible and an invisible medium of human (ironic, get it?) expression.

5 comments about Antique Limoges at Home.

1. This would be the first book I would purchase if you are a beginner or
   long time collector of Limoges. It is excellent



2. Antique Limoges at Home is a great resource book with the marks & beautiful photos of unique pieces. Highly recommend this book. I have the book by Gaston & those by Waterbrook/Clyde and I can not recommend them. If you need a book on Limoges porcelain purchase one of DuBay's: Antique Limoges at Home, Living With Limoges & Collecting Hand Painted Limoges Porcelain.



3. I love Schiffer, but I prefer Keith and Thomas Waterbrook-Clyde books on Limoge! I think that their 4 books, and especially the most recently published, contains more insight into the world of limoge.



4. I own all three of Debby DuBay's books on Limoges along with all of the other reference books available on the market today. I have to admit - it is hard finding this book unless you purchase it on line - but it is well worth the effort. Out of all of the Limoges reference books this book Antique Limoges at Home is the absolutely best. It covers French factory listed artists, amature artists, American Decorating Studios, American listed artists, every back stamp and mark out there, reproductions and a complete section of American Limoges marks. Antique Limoges at Home is the best and a must for the Limoges collector.



5. Numerous color photographs of limoges' pieces or sets in different rooms of a home--foyer, livingroom, bedrooms, etc.--illustrate how this highly desirable porcelain can enhance any setting. Individual pieces and sets are highlighted in middle chapters on different types of limoges such as plates, ewers, platters, chalices, dresser sets, punch bowls, teapots, vases, and others. With these pieces with price ranges conveniently noted following brief descriptions, one can study the details of illustrations, design of the edges, ornamentation, shape, and coloring. There's a shorter section for limoges pieces "you can wear"--i. e., brooches, pins, buttons. Owner of the Limoges Antique Shop in Andover, MA, and author and contributor to other books on limoges who is also a retired Air Force officer, Debbie DuBay has long been a recognized leader in spreading the word about the special beauty, diversity, and value of limoges. This book is so attractive, a reader might miss the general information and reference material DuBay provides of use to collectors and investors at all levels. Opening chapters introduce beginning collectors to limoges porcelain, noting distinctions between French and American limoges and the matter of reproductions. The references on artists, markings, and evaluating a piece or set more of interest to advanced collectors and dealers comes toward the end. Here there are close-ups of the many artist signatures and factory marks signifying the finest limoges.

3 comments about Fevolution: The Art of Feric.

1. This is a wonderful piece of work, taking the computer illustrator draftsmanship on as another way to make marks, leaving hand drawing behind. This gives a newly drafted sense of work, in the vein of Chris Ware and others, who are exploring its precise, machined tone. But unlike the more famous, tortured Ware, Feric takes the line into wondrous, imaginative, even ecstatic places, wordless, almost all black and white, with profound insertions of red, and vapor-like vellum overlays, indicating parasites, prostheses, inner lives, and incognito navigators underneath the lively, charming, "characters,", themselves such an assemblage of culture/nature/sprite/animal/robot/adept, that's it's just a pleasure to watch unfold. The book itself is highly and self-consciously special in its craftsmanship, with a traditional binding, making its forward-looking computer production tie back to the author's cultural heritage. Highly recommended.



2. When I saw this book in the store I really enjoyed the style and how delicate it is. After purchasing it I am impressed by how well put together the book is and I think the style just clicked with me atheistically. The works are innovative and refreshing and coherent to the artist's 'statement' (helps that I have similar cultural background w/ the artist hence has a better understanding).
   
   The only reason why I gave it 4 stars is b/c you can easily tell that it's done in Illustrator (not that most of the works out there with similar style aren't), and somoe pre-set brushes are a bit too easily recognizable. I just felt that with the artist's talent I'm expecting a bit more than that.



3. This is a book with great sense of art, style and creative fantasy.
   These refined graphic lines specially with numbers of detail are attracted you to see more. Don't miss it.

No comments about Tom Sachs: Logjam.

5 comments about Helmut Newton: Big Nudes.

1. This spectacular collection presents a series of photos from 1979-1981. All of them show similar views of the models: nude (except for high heels), strong, and as comfortable wearing only their own beauty as when they wear anything else. Each pose seems almost confrontational - except that the model appears quite aware that you, the viewer, are looking, but just aren't worth her attention. There's no scale in these images, but I can't imagine any of the models being less than 180cm tall. They cast that much presence, irrespective of actual size.
   
   You might argue the claim that all the photos show nudes. There are many picture-pairs of the models fully clothed on the left-hand page and unclothed on the right, in the same pose. Even these clothed images are really about the figure, though. Seeing the woman herself makes me look back at the fashion photos, and pay that much more attention to the figure that the fashions enclose.
   
   I especially like the fact that Newton glorifies figures as they are. Sylvia (the cover model) and Brescia, for example, show physical features that aren't very fashionable right now, and that some might "fix" with cosmetic surgery. Wrong. These are beautiful women, period. Any flaws lie in the standard to which they might be held, not in their stunning figures. I fault Newton only for excluding non-European features and skin tones from this collection. The esthetic choice is his, of course, but those omissions weaken the whole. Not a lot, though - this book is still a necessity for any collection of figure photography.
   
   -- wiredweird



2. The book is in beautiful condition and got here in a timely manner. Very pleased with this transaction.



3. The only reason I did not give this book the full five stars is because I feel there was more of a sameness to this selection of photographs than is true of most of Helmut Newton's work. This "sameness" is of uniformly high quality, exhibiting the inventiveness and playful sequences characteristic of his images. On one page, a group of stylishly attired women appear in stationary or moving poses; on the next page, the same women in the same pose appear nude. Newton has a taste for this sort of dress/undress contrast, as he does for incongruous assemblages: a woman lying in the midst of seaweed thrown about by incoming waves on the beach; another nude lying on an expensive fur coat, while sprawled on the lawn; cords tied in a pattern across the torso of a woman gesturing with her arm in a bodybuilder's pose. Occasionally, Newton produces a truly outstanding photograph, even relative to his own standards; such an example is that of a woman caught mid-breath as she inhales cigarette smoke. The sensuality of this is immediately present on viewing, catching the reader/viewer's eye irrespective of the less-than-appealing reality of smoking.
   
   All of these photographs are in black and white, all of the women are Caucasian, and all appear in attire and settings that suggest wealth and ease. In this respect, Big Nudes is similar to another of his collections, White Women. The photography is always of the highest order, and the selection of nudes is not of the cookie-cutter "perfection" that so often fills the volumes of this genre.
   
   This is a book worth viewing and having, especially if you are fond of Newton's work.



4. Helmut was a genius. I feel qualified to say this because I once had the honor of being his assistant. Standing next to Helmut while he shot gave me little clue as to how his pictures became so signature.. This book is more of his clever self, the subjects are the most beautiful women in the world... wearing nothing.. Amazing.



5. Stark ,haunting photographs by Helmut Newton of women. Not sexual exploitation but tribute to forceful and strong women like Gayle Olinekova and Lisa Lyon. The women confront the viewer with their nudity. There is a type of eroticism that permeates the photographs that draws you in yet makes you feel like a voyeur. A great conversation table book.

2 comments about 100 New York Painters.

1. Reading this book led to a magical discovery of the art of our time. Unlike most other art books, the selection of well known and less known artists is not a repeat of the familiar names. Rather, it reflects the seasoned hand of the living painters in New York. The book is composed of the works by women and men of artistic sophistication and a distinguished exhibition record. Some of them are stars of the established commercial galleries. Some are represented by alternative art spaces. The inclusion of the diverse group of painters is bold and unconventional, for the majority of books are centered around the former. This book, with its highly successful reproductions, reveals more the reality of our time. There are indeed more dedicated painters than what the traditional theorists would like for us to believe. Through her connoisseur's eye, the author Cynthia Dantzic brought to us a window to art so appetizing and distinct, it is a testimony of contemporary painting made in New York.



2. Love this new book. I got a copy of this book and can not put it down. What a great selection on artists. The color and paper quality is amazing. I can't wait to learn more about the artists in this book!

No comments about Art and Print Production: Concept, Technology and Application.

5 comments about A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film.

1. Somewhere, buried in this book, is some interesting, little-known information. This author would seem to have a lot of the inside dope on the subject - he's obviously followed the subject for many years. So it's worth a read if you are REALLY interested and can manage the author's, uh... "style."

   Because this author can't write worth beans. Everything previously reviewers have alleged about him is true, and more. If there was *any* copy editing or checking involved, it's not obvious. This book IS rambling, discursive, contradictory, aimless, and badly organized.

   A passion for pointless footnotes masks not only all this literary chaos but also a very weird, murky, attitude that can only be described as self-loathing. It's like the old crime magazines that used to glorify sex and violence by publicly deploring it - in lengthy and graphic detail. Why somebody who so clearly despises his topic should spin his wheels so furiously about it escapes me.

   If you can find this book at a library, yard sale, or etc. it might be worth reading once over lightly. But pay full hardback price for it only if you've got money to burn.

   As somebody has already written: surely there must be a better basic source on the subject?




2. The PW review really summed it up -- this book is poorly edited, incoherent, meandering, and filled with shameful generalizations about the nature of men, women, and sex (and Jews, and...). If it weren't about the only book out there that even bothers to attempt to review the history of porn movie making (with most of its focus on the California era of the 70's through the 90's), it would deserve one star -- or less.

   As it is, its facts are wrong, its gossip misleading, and its author clearly conflicted about his love and loathing of sexually explicit entertainment. But it is an interesting enough read (perhaps in the train wreck sense) that I finished the book. I didn't learn much more than I already knew, however. The shame of it is, this could have been a really good book, had some editor taken Ford firmly in hand and made him shape his chapters into a coherent form. It's not for nothing that the man has earned fame as a porn industry watcher; Ford has a trashy tabloid style that certainly grabs the attention (and there's nothing wrong with trashy tabloidism in its place!). But instead of guidance, he was handed a book contract and allowed to ramble without rein. The result is sad and unworthy of being clad between two covers. Blog-like ramblings on a website are one thing; I expect more rigorousness from a book I'm supposed to pay for.




3. I can't recall when I've read a more interesting book on the adult industry. Luke Ford has definitely done his homework. His writing style amazed me and held me spellbound through each and every page. Bravo, Mr. Ford!



4. Mr. Ford has crafted one of the most important tomes of his generation in this jeremiad against pornography. In clinical detail, Ford rips the scab off the underword of porn like no other thinker dare do today and reveals the dirt that lies at the heart of this moral stain upon all that is human and decent in the world of decent people who do not ignore natural law unlike those who act in or sell or like porn.

   All in all, one of the most influencial books I have ever read. It got me very very very excited. I especially liked the photograph of Mr. Ford on the cover.




5. The book is ambitious in its scope, but gets bogged down in the minutia of the business side of the pornography industry. Ultimately it lacks what porn fans truly crave...graphic photos of women in humiliating sex acts. Overall a decent first effort.