1 comments about Like a House on Fire: Renewal of the Arts in a Postmodern Culture.

1. Anyone who's heard Steve Scott's brilliant new wave record/ CD, Love in the Western World, will notice that I named this review after a song on that album. Steve also often names his pieces after his songs or vice versa, which is the first thing that makes this book great; the interconnectedness of all things Steve Scott, for whom life and art and faith are not disconnected pursuits. This book, like his music, like his poetry yells that they don't have to be. If that isn't good news for the artist, I don't know what is.
   
   This book sort of picks up where Crying for a Vision (Stride Books, England) left off, but really both books are a jumble of essays loosely organized around a common theme, and not very "booky" at all. Having said that, House will still be over many reader's heads, and they'll naturally be tempted to put it down. I don't advise that: instead jump around. Skip the way deep histories in the first two chapters and dive in later. "A Jar of Dead Flies" ran in some version in now defunct True Tunes magazine. Part of "Am I Really Here or Is it Just Art?" appeared in HM magazine (just celebrating 20 years--see my magazine guide to get it from Amazon), which is to say they really are independent essays.
   
   "Am I Really Here" relates to Scott's poetry over tape loops album, The Butterfly Effect, which it would be very cool to read and then listen to respectively in an arts/ reading group. House is full of bits like that (the last two essays are projects) that could be discussed over a cup of joe (or a pint of Guiness), with each member of the group bringing examples from their own or other's art (it would really open up the part on post-modernism to thrash it out in a group).
   
   Christianity Today had an article on how traditionally Catholic and various stripes of Protestant colleges are regaining their original vision, which sort of means that how they reinvent themselves is up for grabs. I can't even imagine what might happen if someone used House as a textbook. Imagine reading a book about art by someone who actually made art. Steve Scott's now and then chapbooks, The Boundaries, are being collected into one volume by Stride, and Crying for a Vision is due to be reprinted.
   
   Steve's CDs are also (sometimes) available through RadRockers.com (search under Scott). The 77s were his back up band on Love in the Western World, which RadRockers called " a deliciously creepy, way before its time alternative rock classic, with similarities to David Bowie, Roxy Music and the Police...Lyrically deep and brilliant, with vocal inflections similar to Lou Reed." His other rock collections are Magnificent Obsession and Lost Horizon. His other albums are more experimental, like The Butterfly Effect, or Crossing the Boundaries, which was part of an installation with visual painter Gaylen Stewart, Empty Orchestra (the literal meaning of Karaoke), and More Than a Dream (odd reversions of Scott rock songs). So for an art book by an artist, check out Steve Scott.

1 comments about Russian Icons.

1. "Russian Icons" by Vladimir Ivanov is an excellent summary, chronologically arranged, of the history of Russian Icons. Not only is it well illustrated, it gives a nice overview of the history of Russian icons. What impressed me the most about this book was its lovely photographs of the icons. They capture the spirit of the paintings. They are also high-quality photographs, not blurred or smudged. It is a work which is both useful to a stranger to the subject and an expert.

No comments about Veronica and Her Cloth: History, Symbolism, and Structure of a True Image.

2 comments about Sister Wendy's Nativity.

1. Once again, Sister Wendy has produced a delightful book on art and religion. This one mostly deals with the birth of Jesus, but it touches upon the later events in his life as well. The paintings are tiny, from mostly anonymous artists from the late medieval period. When blown up to book size, these tiny paintings can look rather crude. But Sister Wendy zooms in on them with her spiritual microscope, and with her trademark contemplative style, draws forth from these miniatures profound spiritual revelations--meanings the artists probably never intended. At least not consciously. She then extends the "message" of the paintings into meditations on what their significance is to contemporary religious thought and life's contemporary moral dilemmas. You marvel at her perceptiveness.As another reviewer pointed out, there are some editing problems in the book. In a few instances, the paintings and their associated commentaries don't quite match up. But this flaw won't detract from your enjoyment of the book.I'm one atheist who is always happy to plunk down money for a new Sister Wendy book. And this one is certainly no exception. You'll want to re-read it during every Xmas season.



2. I am a great admirer of Sister Wendy and highly recommend her A Child's Book of Prayer in Art as a five star book.

   In this book, however, there are several instances where the painting details of which she is speaking don't appear in the book. On page 42 she states, "A desperate angel in the lower margin semaphores to them;..." This angel is not included. On page 91 the painting has apparently been printed backward or the text on the facing page reveals that neither Sister Wendy nor her proof rereaders can tell left from right. On page 62 the description seems not to be of the illumination opposite. The text states, "Even sadder is the figure on the left, seen moving away from the group into the loneliness of remorse. Judas,..." No one appears to be moving away and Judas is pictured as kissing Jesus. It is all annoying enough to make the book not worth the price, even with the Amazon discount.

   The concept of the book is worthy; it covers the story of Jesus from Adam through Pentecost to Heaven using mostly previously unpublished pictures from the Vatican Libraries to celebrate the onset of the third Christian millenium. The purchase of A Child's Book of Prayer in Art would be a more apt celebration. Those seeking to explore the wonder of Jesus's birth with Sister Wendy would be better off with Sister Wendy's Story of Christmas.

No comments about Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium.

No comments about Ranchos De Taos: San Francisco De Asis Church.

1 comments about Culture in Christian Perspective: A Door to Understanding and Enjoying the Arts (Critical Concern Book).

1. Is art for art's sake or must it have a message? This well written study discusses that question. It is a must read for anyone struggling with the question of whether or not to read secular novels, listen to secular music and watch secular movies. It is also an encouragement to anyone who is an aspiring artist but is also a Christian. I commend it highly.

No comments about Sinai: Treasures of the Monastery of St Catherine.

No comments about The Treasury of Saint Francis of Assisi: Masterpieces from the Museo Della Basilica of San Francesca.

No comments about El Greco in Toledo: National Monuments of Spain.