Book Description

A strikingly original work, Friends of Interpretable Objects re-anchors aesthetics in the object of attention even as it redefines the practice, processes, meaning, and uses of interpretation.

Miguel Tamen's concern is to show how inanimate objects take on life through their interpretation--notably, in our own culture, as they are collected and housed in museums. It is his claim that an object becomes interpretable only in the context of a "society of friends." Thus, Tamen suggests, our inveterate tendency as human beings to interpret the phenomenal world gives objects not only a life but also a society. As his work unfolds, "friends" also takes on a legal sense, as advocates, introduced to advance the argument that the social life of interpreted and interpretable objects engenders a related web of social obligations.

Focusing on those who, through interpretation, make objects "speak" in settings as different as churches, museums, forests, and distant galaxies--those who know the best interests of corporations, endangered species, and works of art--Tamen exposes the common ground shared by art criticism, political science, tort law, and science. Learned and witty, with much to teach art historians, environmentalists, anthropologists, curators, and literary critics, his book utterly reorients our understanding of how we make sense of our world.

Customer Reviews:

A good start and a confused ending... .......2006-03-25

Miguel Tamen's book presents a «theory of things» in combination with their different cultural impacts for example in museums and collections in 19th century Europe. The book starts very complex but ends without delivering a coherent theses. This is the main critique after my lecture of the book. The chapters do not develop one into another but Tamen's observations and interpretations remain without a holistic concept. In comparison with other studies with a more historical and genealogical perspective (for example written by D. Maleuvre or J. Siegel) Tamen's book lacks - at least for me - of a coherent theoretical insight. Nevertheless: if someone is interested in "thing theory" I can recommend at least the first chapters.

Lex, legis?.......2002-01-14

Within this tiny volume of lecture-length chapters bravely stares a provocation to reconsider both why and how (also a little on what) we pursue interpretation. A couple of the chapters serve mealy reading (e.g., Byzantine law and Iconostasis), but the overall argument pleasingly confounds the mellow and perhaps mindless reception of analyses of objects whose interpretations may be completely unnecessary beyond their value as ways of thinking that create like-minded societies. The perspectives of legal scholars, tree-lovers, art historians, and others, who make sense of parts of the world and its culture for the many of us who grow weary of the incessant, silly sallies required to be comprehensively aware, receive attention. Despite a recondite divagation here and there, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this sharp and playful book.

Book Description

In contrast with other methods of painting on porcelain, the "American" technique offers one enormous advantage: you can retouch and refine to your heart's delight. This book provides all the basic information-equipment, paints, brush strokes, classic subjects-and a method that neatly combines the traditional with the modern. A book that no porcelain painter-experienced or beginner-should be without.

Amazon.com

Philip Steadman's remarkable book Vermeer's Camera cracks an artistic enigma that has haunted art history for centuries. Over the years, artists and art historians have marveled at the extraordinary visual realism of the paintings of the 17th-century Dutch painter Jan Vermeer. The painter's spectacular View of Delft, painted around 1661, and the beautiful domestic interior The Music Lesson seem almost photographic in their incredible detail and precise perspective. Since the 19th century, experts have speculated that Vermeer used a camera obscura, an early precursor of the modern camera. However, conclusive proof was never discovered, until now. In Vermeer's Camera, Steadman proves that Vermeer did indeed use a camera obscura to complete his greatest canvases. Part art-historical study, part scientific argument, but mainly a fascinating detective story, Vermeer's Camera argues:

Vermeer had a camera obscura with a lens at the painting's viewpoint. He used this arrangement to project the scene onto the back wall of the room, which thus served as the camera's screen. He put paper on the wall and traced, perhaps even painted from the projected image. It is because Vermeer traced these images that they are the same size as the paintings themselves.

Steadman painstakingly develops his argument through careful study of the history of the camera obscura, an exploration of 17th-century optics, and a detailed study of the light, optics, perspective, and measurement of a series of Vermeer's paintings. He goes to remarkable lengths to reconstruct Vermeer's studio and its furnishings, down to the angle of the light from its windows. The science is complex, but always clearly explained. This is not an attempt to reveal Vermeer as an artistic "cheat." Steadman convincingly argues that "Vermeer's obsessions with light, tonal values, shadow, and colour, for the treatment of which his work is so admired, are very closely bound up with his study of the special qualities of optical images." Vermeer's Camera is a wonderful book that shows the ways in which, during the 17th century, art and science went hand in hand. It offers an enlarged, rather than reduced, perspective on Vermeer. --Jerry Brotton. Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

Over 100 years of speculation and controversy surround claims that the great seventeenth-century Dutch artist, Johannes Vermeer, used the camera obscura to create some of the most famous images in Western art. This intellectual detective story starts by exploring Vermeer's possible knowledge of seventeenth-century optical science, and outlines the history of this early version of the photographic camera, which projected an accurate image for artists to trace. However, it is Steadman's meticulous reconstruction of the artist's studio, complete with a camera obscura, which provides exciting new evidence to support the view that Vermeer did indeed use the camera. These findings do not challenge Vermeer's genius but show how, like many artists, he experimented with new technology to develop his style and choice of subject matter. The combination of detailed research and a wide range of contemporary illustrations offers a fascinating glimpse into a time of great scientific and cultural innovation and achievement in Europe.

Customer Reviews:

Well researched and tolerably convincing.......2006-06-30

This is a very well researched book. The author has taken great pains to measure and analyze Vermeer's paintings, finding a striking feature that many of them, when back-projected through the perspective view point at the size of the painting, imply a consistent location of a back wall to the common room used in the pictures. The author asserts that the only reasonable explanation for this coincidence is that Vermeer used a camera obscura for at least some of the layout of his paintings.

This comes off as very plausible, though the analysis is limited to paintings that include a tiled floor. It would have been interesting to see this work extended through photogrammetry of objects of known sizes in the paintings (chairs, musical instruments, etc) and applied to more of the paintings.

I think the only real failing in the argument is that Vermeer could have could have had the skill to paint perspective of this quality, and therefore not needed the aid of a camera. As pointed out in the text, he was not bound to perfect accuracy; there are some deviations.

Interesting, scholarly study.......2005-03-22

Did Vermeer use optical aids, like a camera obscura, in crafting his wonderful paintings: yes or no?

That is the question being asked here. This is a technical question, only, it adds or detracts nothing in Vermeer's ouvre and career either way. It's and interesting question though, and even an important one. What choices did Vermeer make in achieving greatness?

Steadman convincingly argues that Vermeer very likely used a camera obscura, in one form or another, in creating many of his paintings. This work starts with a thorough discussion of the inconclusive written records. Vermeer was certainly contemporary to people like van Leeuwenhoek, who pioneered microscopy, even lived in the same city at the same time. He had long exposure to trades where lenses were used regularly, and lived in a time when lenses were available commercially. All that is circumstantial and, unlike other authors, Steadman declines to read more into available facts than they said in the first place.

His real contribution is in his detailed analyses of Vermeer's paintings and their geometries, and in actual reconstructions of the rooms Vermeer portrayed and tools he might have used. This is the scientific method at work: present a falsifiable hypothesis, and create an experiment that confirms or denies it. "Is shadow in 'The Music Lesson' a credible, literal rendering of an actual scene?" His experiments from the late 80s, rebuilding rooms that match Vermeer's says "Yes." This is a delightful contrast to armchair guesswork by others, such as Wheelock, who never really checked but thought the shadows looked false.

This is a worthwhile historical and technical achievement, partially funded by the BBC for a TV special in 1989. It also stands in clear contrast to Hockney's later work on much the same question, "Secret Knowledge." Hockney asked, as an artist, do these tools give me the experience captured in the old masters' art? His answer, achieved by personal immersion, was also "Yes." I respect Steadman's rigor as a historian and experimentalist, but this work comes off a bit dry compared to Hockney's first-person report.

It's an interesting book on an artist about whom maddeningly little is known. It's thorough, and gives future art historians a very high bar to clear. If not for the hands-on liveliness of Hockney's book, I might have ranked this one even higher.

//wiredweird

A Detective Story for Vermeer Lovers.......2004-05-25

This treasure is actually a mystery novel in the guise of an art book! Steadman cleverly examines the long-held debate over Vermeer's alleged use of camera-like inventions to help create his masterworks. He does so by constructing models of the rooms, examining long-overlooked clues and engaging in some very pragmatic thinking. At times Steadman almost comes across as art history's answer to Lt. Colombo, which is a compliment. This is a very readable and enjoyable book for any art lover who also loves a good mystery, brain teasers, and practical application of optics. My only quibble is that additional illustrations and plates would have helped Steadman make his point better.

Did He or Didn't He?.......2001-07-27

Did the famous Delft artist, Johannes Vermeer, use the camera obscura to create his remarkably photographic paintings? People have been asking that question for a century or more. To help answer it, Philip Steadman has written this great little book. It is truly an enjoyable investigation of Vermeer's acquaintances, studio, and style. My favorite parts of the book are Steadman's photographic reconstructions of Vermeer's paintings. Did Vermeer use the camera? If he did, would that make him an artistic cheat or a visionary? I like a book that leaves me with some things to think about, and this one does the job.

Women Behind the Camera: Conversations with Camerawomen

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Women Behind the Camera: Conversations with Camerawomen
Alexis Krasilovsky
Manufacturer: Praeger Paperback
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0275957454

Book Description

Hollywood has seen the number of camerawomen quadruple in the past fifteen years. Women Behind the Camera is the first book to offer an in-depth look at the lives of camerawomen and their struggles to succeed in a male-dominated field. Krasilovsky presents interviews with 23 camerawomen, most of whom are pioneers in Hollywood and whose experiences cover the full range of the Camera Department. The camerawomen interviewed include all four women Directors of Photography who have achieved membership in the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers, one of the first female camera assistants to work at the BBC, camerawomen who worked on Star Trek VI and Terminator 2, and a full range of documentary, experimental, and video camerawomen. These pioneering women, who have filmed in war zones, on mountain peaks, underwater, and on Hollywood sets, discuss their influences, goals, and experiences with directors and stars, and the art of cinematography.

Lights! Camera! Molly!: A Behind the Scenes Movie Guide

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Take a peek inside the movie!

Lights! Camera! Molly!: A Behind the Scenes Movie Guide
American Girl
Manufacturer: American Girl
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1593692129

Book Description

Girls will love this behind-the-scenes look at the making of the new Molly movie, premiering in November. The book includes information on the film's actors, director, special effects, costumes, sets, and more! It also features interviews with the cast and photos from the set.

Customer Reviews:

Take a peek inside the movie!.......2006-10-30

This book is a must for a Molly fan! I have collected American Girl Dolls for seven years- and Molly was my first! This book offers a glimpse into the movie- and the making of it!

It has great, unique pictures, and short bios on the cast. This is a great product to tide you over until the movie airs!

Bill Brandt: Behind The Camera (Aperture Monograph)

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Exploring his connections to literature

Bill Brandt: Behind The Camera (Aperture Monograph)
David Mellor
Manufacturer: Aperture
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 089381170X
Release Date: 2005-06-15

Book Description

Universally acknowledged as the greatest British photographer and one of the great masters of all twentieth-century photography, Bill Brandt left an indelible mark on the medium during a career that spanned more than fifty years. Trained in the Paris studio of Man Ray, Brandt returned to England and produced a body of work that ranged from insightful portraits of English upper-crust society to views of the gritty poverty of the industrial north. During the Blitz of World War II, Brandt created an epic picture of blacked-out London, with images of bomb-damaged landmarks such as Saint Paul’s Cathedral and residents sheltering in underground subway stations.

After the war, he began a series of ninety remarkable nude studies using lens distortions and unusual points of view to interpret the female form in new and exciting ways. At the same time, he photographed the movers and shakers of the English artistic scene, making portraits of everyone from Alec Guinness to David Hockney, and he toured the island nation tracking down landscapes that had been influential to important British writers for a historic series called “Literary Britain.”

Customer Reviews:

Exploring his connections to literature.......2004-05-16

Bill Brandt Behind The Camera is a study of twentieth century British photographer Bill Brandt's life and works, featuring striking black-and-white samples of his photographs and an insightful biographical, deconstructive, and artistic essay of his pursuits. Exploring his connections to literature, and his deep immersion in the streets of Spain, Paris, and his home nation of Britain, as well as the revelations his camera captured, Bill Brandt Behind The Camera for photography shelves.

Queen of the 'B's: Ida Lupino Behind the Camera

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Queen of the 'B's: Ida Lupino Behind the Camera

Manufacturer: Praeger Paperback
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Communications | Skills | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0275953327

Book Description

Although Ida Lupino is best known as a leading actress in many Hollywood B movies, her work as a filmmaker has been neglected by critics, historians, and audiences. In the late 1940s, Lupino turned writer, producer, and director in her own independent production company. The films she made, beginning with Not Wanted in 1949, were low-budget pictures taking an uncompromising approach to controversial subject matter -- unmarried motherhood, disability, rape, bigamy. Lupino is exceptional as the only woman to have directed a visible body of films in the male-dominated Hollywood of the 1950s. The continuation of that directorial career in television throughout the 1960s strengthens the claim that Lupino is the most prolific and creatively powerful woman director ever to have worked in the moving image industry. This book is the first extensive critical study of Ida Lupino's work as a director in both film and television. It features in-depth essays on each of the films she directed and on her work in television (including such popular series as The Fugitive and The Twilight Zone), with the most complete credit listing yet published of her television work. Viewing Lupino's oeuvre in historical, social, industrial, and aesthetic contexts, all the contributors demonstrate that the work repays informed and sensitive readings and many consider it in light of contemporary feminist debates on cinema. Queen of the `B's is a long overdue reassessment of an important and pioneering director.

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Ron Howard (Behind the Camera)
Hal Marcovitz
Manufacturer: Chelsea House Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0791067165

Behind the camera: "how to" of color wedding photography (II)

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Behind the camera: "how to" of color wedding photography (II)
Jack Curtis
Manufacturer: Curtis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006W8G80

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Spike Lee (Behind the Camera)
Charles J. Shields
Manufacturer: Chelsea House Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0791067157

The Actors' Director: Richard Attenborough Behind the Camera

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The Actors' Director: Richard Attenborough Behind the Camera
Andy Dougan
Manufacturer: Mainstream Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1851586725

Ballet and Camera: Sadler's Wells Dancers Behind and on Stage

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Ballet and Camera: Sadler's Wells Dancers Behind and on Stage
John Hart; Foreword Ninette De Valois
Manufacturer: CHATTO & WINDUS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OK5XWQ

Book Description

In this classic crack-up of a book, Dave Barry gives his wacky perspective on sex, childbirth, parenting and other forms of slow, cruel torture.

In Babies and Other Hazards of Sex, Dave exposes natural childbirth for what it is: a pop phenomenon of the 1960s that, along with paisley bell-bottoms and creative sideburns, deserves a rest. He examines the new federal law requiring prospective fathers to free themselves from their self-made macho prisons--to laugh, cry, love and just generally behave like certified wimps.

Dave also reveals, for the first time in print, the secret chant for painless childbirth.

Then learn why no secret chant could possibly take a woman's mind off the fact that she is in such pain that she wants a gigantic comet to crash into the earth and kill her and her husband and the dotor and the nurses and everyone else in the world.

Customer Reviews:

Babies and Other Hazards of Sex: review.......2007-07-04

This book should be the bible for those considering having kids. I bought more copies of this for gifts then I can count. It's too funny and I highly recommend it.

One of Dave Barry's best laughs.......2007-01-21

Purchased as a gift for a close friend shortly after they found out they were expecting, because I purchased this 5 years ago when our son and his wife were expecting and living a great distance away. Both men found this book a laugh a minute. Dave Barry at his best.

Warning - Do not read in last trimester!.......2006-06-29

This book is very funny, weirdly prophetic and difficult to read if you've got 8lbs of baby pressing down on your bladder!

THE ONLY BOOK YOU WILL NEED.............2005-10-21

I have always been a fan of Dave Barry.
When my baby's mama got pregnant I spent the better part of three months in a drunken haze. "WHAT WILL I DO?!" I constantly asked my friends. None of them knew. I had just barely turned twenty one and none of my friends were or ever had been in the same boat.
Truth of the matter is, nobody can tell you what to do in this circumstance. The object is to go with the flow, from the time that chick of yours gets pregnant to ... forever.
I was THRILLED when I found this book, and it did not dissapoint. Without it I may have lost my mind and killed that chick with a hatchet.
Very funny, and it will make you forget that you are in HELL! Must have for suprised "expectants."

Not worth the money.......2005-08-04

Just not funny, I returned the book and got my money back.

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