Reality Hunger: A Manifesto


David Shields - 2010
    YouTube and Facebook dominate the web. In Reality Hunger: A Manifesto, his landmark new book, David Shields (author of the New York Times best seller The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead) argues that our culture is obsessed with “reality” precisely because we experience hardly any.Most artistic movements are attempts to figure out a way to smuggle more of what the artist thinks is reality into the work of art. So, too, every artistic movement or moment needs a credo, from Horace’s Ars Poetica to Lars von Trier’s “Vow of Chastity.” Shields has written the ars poetica for a burgeoning group of interrelated but unconnected artists in a variety of forms and media who, living in an unbearably manufactured and artificial world, are striving to stay open to the possibility of randomness, accident, serendipity, spontaneity; actively courting reader/listener/viewer participation, artistic risk, emotional urgency; breaking larger and larger chunks of “reality” into their work; and, above all, seeking to erase any distinction between fiction and nonfiction.The questions Reality Hunger explores—the bending of form and genre, the lure and blur of the real—play out constantly all around us. Think of the now endless controversy surrounding the provenance and authenticity of the “real”: A Million Little Pieces, the Obama “Hope” poster, the sequel to The Catcher in the Rye, Robert Capa’s “The Falling Soldier” photograph, the boy who wasn’t in the balloon. Reality Hunger is a rigorous and radical attempt to reframe how we think about “truthiness,” literary license, quotation, appropriation.Drawing on myriad sources, Shields takes an audacious stance on issues that are being fought over now and will be fought over far into the future. People will either love or hate this book. Its converts will see it as a rallying cry; its detractors will view it as an occasion for defending the status quo. It is certain to be one of the most controversial and talked-about books of the year.

The Art and Flair of Mary Blair: An Appreciation


John Canemaker - 2003
    The stylishness and vibrant color of Disney films in the early 1940s through mid-1950s came primarily from artist Mary Blair. In her prime, she was an amazingly prolific American artist who enlivened and influenced the not-so-small worlds of film, print, theme parks, architectural decor, and advertising. At its core, her art represented joyful creativity and communicated pure pleasure to the viewer. Her exuberant fantasies brimmed with beauty, charm, and wit, melding a child's fresh eye with adult experience. Blair's personal flair comprised the imagery that flowed effortlessly and continually for more than a half a century from her brush. Emulated by many, she remains inimitable: a dazzling sorceress of design and color.

Art Is the Highest Form of Hope Other Quotes by Artists


Phaidon - 2016
    As painters, sculptors, photographers, and other visual artists see and experience the world through a unique lens, Art Is the Highest Form of Hope & Other Quotes by Artists shows that their life lessons, private revelations, and frank, often irreverent, opinions can guide us all.This unique and carefully curated book, packed with totally original research, is a go-to resource for revealing thoughts and personal advice on subjects as diverse as beauty, colour, light, sex, chance, discipline, money troubles, originality, fear of failure, danger of success, the creative process, and more – all messages transmitted from the artistic trenches.

The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collections of Photography


Steve Crist - 2005
    This survey features more than 400 works from the Polaroid Collection along with essays by Hitchcock, who illuminates the beginnings and history of the Polaroid Corporation.

Schadenfreude: The Joy of Another's Misfortune


Tiffany Watt Smith - 2018
    You might feel schadenfreude when...the boss calls himself "Head of Pubic Services" on an important letter.a cool guy swings back on his chair, and it tips over.a Celebrity Vegan is caught in the cheese aisle.an aggressive driver cuts you off - and then gets pulled over.your co-worker heats up fish in the microwave, then gets food poisoning.an urban unicyclist almost collides with a parked car.someone cuts the line for the ATM - and then it swallows their card.your effortlessly attractive friend gets dumped.We all know the pleasure felt at someone else's misfortune. The Germans named this furtive delight in another's failure schadenfreude (from schaden damage, and freude, joy), and it has perplexed philosophers and psychologists for centuries. Why can it be so satisfying to witness another's distress? And what, if anything, should we do about it?Schadenfreude illuminates this hidden emotion, inviting readers to reflect on its pleasures, and how we use other people's miseries to feel better about ourselves. Written in an exploratory, evocative form, it weaves examples from literature, philosophy, film, and music together with personal observation and historical and cultural analysis. And in today's world of polarized politics, twitter trolls and "sidebars of shame," it couldn't be timelier. Engaging, insightful, and entertaining, Schadenfreude makes the case for thinking afresh about the role this much-maligned emotion plays in our lives -- perhaps even embracing it.

Sigmund Freud


Ralph Steadman - 1979
    The result is a masterful interplay of text and illustration, visual and verbal puns, and unexpected insight.Sigmund Freud bursts defiantly and gleefully beyond the bounds of orthodox biography. It is a wildly humorous exercise in bending, stretching and speculating on the activities of the so-called Father of Psychoanalysis. Ralph Steadman wields his shrewd wit and fierce pen to highlight the ebbs and tides of Freud's life and career from early childhood to the moment of death.But there's a twist. Rich illustrations and witty text work hand in hand to transform each scene into a "joking situation," which the artist hilariously examines according to the techniques wielded by Freud himself in his 1905 book on humor and the unconscious mind. The result is a fantastic Freudian festival of visual and verbal puns, unexpected insights, and sheer intellectual enjoyment.Originally published in hardcover in 1979, released in paperback in 1997, and reprinted numerous times since then, we are presenting it again to remind buyers that Freud has not and will not leave the unconscious mind of the public (and he would likely have something to say about what books they buy).Sigmund Freud is superbly illustrated with more than 50 major drawings and 25 vignettes by a renowned master of the pen. It remains one of the most original illustrated books of our times and a Ralph Steadman classic.

Dubious Documents: A Puzzle (Wordplay, Ephemera, Interactive Mystery)


Nick Bantock - 2018
    Readers must study Berlin's introductory note, list of clues, and 16 multifaceted notes and envelopes to decode cryptic anagrams, pictograms, number puzzles, and wordplay. When solved, each clue reveals one word—but the rest remains a mystery. • Multiple clues to keep players guessing• Beautiful layout• A challenge for even the most advanced puzzle solversAnyone who likes the mysteries of The Morning Star: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine is Illuminated, The Griffin & Sabine Trilogy Boxed Set will have fun with this puzzle book. • A perfect gift for anyone who likes mysteries and solving puzzles• Fans of Nick Bantock will love this mystery• Those who enjoy solving riddles will have fun solving these clues

Mechanika: Creating the Art of Science Fiction with Doug Chiang


Doug Chiang - 2008
    For generations artists have created imagery destined for the entertainment of others, and now you can too.Revered science fiction artist and film designer, Doug Chiang, reveals the thought processes and techniques he used working on blockbusters such as the Star Wars prequels, War of the Worlds, Terminator, and Beowulf. You'll learn from Chiang's visionary experience as he shares his design processes, giving expert advice and showcasing the groundbreaking style that has earned his creations a spot in the Brooklyn Museum, Houston Museum of Fine Art and the Tokyo National Museum.Inside you'll discover:30+ lessons for creating out-of-this-world science fiction scenes in the style featured in films, books, comics, toys and games using both traditional and digital techniquesDetails and tips for using Adobe Photoshop to conceive, design, draw and enhance your creations25 step-by-step demonstrations of outrageous robots, vehicles, creatures and environments with finished color imagesForeword by film producer/director Robert Zemeckis (Monster House, The Polar Express, Back to the Future, Beowulf)With tips on everything from basic skills like blueline sketching and assembling a toolkit to conceptualization and painting for digital art, Mechanika has everything you need to get great results and make your science fiction worlds come alive!

The Business Side of Creativity: The Complete Guide for Running a Graphic Design or Communications Business


Cameron S. Foote - 1996
    It covers getting launched to running a multi-person shop to retiring comfortably, and is aimed at freelance graphic designers, art directors, illustrators, copywriters.

Industrial Design A-Z


Charlotte Fiell - 2000
    Pub Date :2006-02 Pages: 576 Publisher: Taschen Paperback: 576 pages Publisher: Taschen; 25th edition (Feuary 25. 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 3822850578 ISBN-13: 978-3822850572 Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.9 x 1.8 inches Shipping Weight: 2.3 poundsIf you take even the slightest interest in the design of your toothush. the history behind your washing machine. or the evolution of the telephone. you'll take an even greater interest in this new book. Individual designers and design firms can be referenced directly via the AZ of Industrial Design section. Here. you'll find the likes of Enzo Ferrari. Philippe Starck. Zanussi and Apple Computer. among many others. Exploding with color. aesthetic. and style. ; Industrial Design is both informative and fun. You'll have a hard time putting it down This is an invaluable reference book! here. you will find the likes of En...

A New Map of Wonders: A Journey in Search of Modern Marvels


Caspar Henderson - 2017
    But has this knowledge cost us the ability to wonder? Wonder, Caspar Henderson argues, is at its most supremely valuable in just such a world because it reaffirms our humanity and gives us hope for the future. That’s the power of wonder, and that’s what we should aim to cultivate in our lives. But what are the wonders of the modern world? Henderson’s brilliant exploration borrows from the form of one of the oldest and most widely known sources of wonder: maps. Large, detailed mappae mundi invited people in medieval Europe to vividly imagine places and possibilities they had never seen before: manticores with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and the stinging tail of a scorpion; tribes of one-eyed men who fought griffins for diamonds; and fearsome Scythian warriors who drank the blood of their enemies from their skulls. As outlandish as these maps and the stories that went with them sound to us today, Henderson argues that our views of the world today are sometimes no less incomplete or misleading. Scientists are only beginning to map the human brain, for example, revealing it as vastly more complex than any computer we can conceive. Our current understanding of physical reality is woefully incomplete. A New Map of Wonders explores these and other realms of the wonderful, in different times and cultures and in the present day, taking readers from Aboriginal Australian landscapes to sacred sites in Great Britain, all the while keeping sight questions such as the cognitive basis of wonder and the relationship between wonder and science.             Beautifully illustrated and written with wit and moral complexity, this sequel to The Book of Barely Imagined Beings is a fascinating account of the power of wonder and an unforgettable meditation on its importance to our future.

Beyond the Map


Alastair Bonnett - 2017
    Out there fleets of new islands are under construction and eye-wateringly insane micro-nations are struggling into the light; unseen rivers are tumbling under sleeping cites and once secret fantasy- gardens are cracking open their doors. As groups like Islamic State fabricate proto-states whose boundaries ebb and flow with each passing day, it certainly feels as if all the old maps are being frantically scribbled over or torn up. The world’s unruly places, the zones unmarked on any official map, are multiplying and changing fast. In this book, Alaistair Bonnet presents the stories of 43 of these extraordinary places, all of which will challenge the very concept of place. The ever more unruly maps of human and physical geography can seem overwhelming. Perhaps that’s why little places, the small secrets, the hidden surprises, have become so important. Alastair will set out on a journey across the world in search of a diverse range of modern utopias, from the Dubai Shopping Mall to the caliphate of the Islamic State, from the Findhorn eco-community in Scotland to Cybertopias such as Second Life. Follows in the great tradition of writing on place and what it tells us about ourselves and the world, and our previous success with Off the Map. Off the Map was very well reviewed and received - would be great title for coverage in national newspapers, and their magazines. Alastair is availble for publicity and would be great for radio interviews, for Radio 4 programmes and debates. Perfect for fans of Iain Sinclair, Robert Macfarlane, The Atlas of Remote Islands and Paul Farley's Edgelands as well as Simon Garfield's On the Map

The Ongoing Moment


Geoff Dyer - 2005
    With characteristic perversity - and trademark originality - THE ONGOING MOMENT is Dyer's unique and idiosyncratic history of photography. Seeking to identify their signature styles Dyer looks at the ways that canonical figures such as Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Walker Evans, Kertesz, Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus and William Eggleston have photographed the same scenes and objects (benches, hats, hands, roads). In doing so Dyer constructs a narrative in which those photographers - many of whom never met in their lives - constantly come into contact with each other. Great photographs change the way we see the world; THE ONGOING MOMENT changes the way we look at both. It is the most ambitious example to date of a form of writing that Dyer has made his own: the non-fiction work of art.

The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism


Kyle Chayka - 2020
    . . A superb outing from a gifted young critic that will spark joy in many readers." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review“Less is more”: Everywhere we hear the mantra. Marie Kondo and other decluttering gurus promise that shedding our stuff will solve our problems. We commit to cleanse diets and strive for inbox zero. Amid the frantic pace and distraction of everyday life, we covet silence-and airy, Instagrammable spaces in which to enjoy it. The popular term for this brand of upscale austerity, “minimalism,” has mostly come to stand for things to buy and consume. But minimalism has richer, deeper, and altogether more valuable gifts to offer.Kyle Chayka is one of our sharpest cultural observers. After spending years covering minimalist trends for leading publications, he now delves beneath this lifestyle's glossy surface, seeking better ways to claim the time and space we crave. He shows that our longing for less goes back further than we realize. His search leads him to the philosophical and spiritual origins of minimalism, and to the stories of artists such as Agnes Martin and Donald Judd; composers such as John Cage and Julius Eastman; architects and designers; visionaries and misfits. As Chayka looks anew at their extraordinary lives and explores the places where they worked-from Manhattan lofts to the Texas high desert and the back alleys of Kyoto-he reminds us that what we most require is presence, not absence. The result is an elegant new synthesis of our minimalist desires and our profound emotional needs.

The Noble Approach: Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design


Tod Polson - 2013
    Revered throughout the animation world, his work serves as a foundation and reference point for the current generation of animators, story artists, and designers. Written by Noble's longtime friend and colleague Tod Polson and based on the draft manuscript Noble worked on in the years before his death, this illuminating book passes on his approach to animation design from concept to final frame, illustrated with sketches and stunning original artwork spanning the full breadth of his career.