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Following Italy's unification in 1861, architects, artists, politicians, and literati engaged in volatile debates over the pursuit of national and regional identity. Growing industrialization and urbanization across the country contrasted with the rediscovery of traditionally built forms and objects created by the agrarian peasantry. Pride in Modesty argues that these(...)
Pride in modesty : modernist architecture and the vernacular tradition in Italy
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Following Italy's unification in 1861, architects, artists, politicians, and literati engaged in volatile debates over the pursuit of national and regional identity. Growing industrialization and urbanization across the country contrasted with the rediscovery of traditionally built forms and objects created by the agrarian peasantry. Pride in Modesty argues that these ordinary, often anonymous, everyday things inspired and transformed Italian art and architecture from the 1920s through the 1970s. Through in-depth examinations of texts, drawings, and buildings, Michelangelo Sabatino finds that the folk traditions of the pre-industrial countryside have provided formal, practical, and poetic inspiration directly affecting both design and construction practices over a period of sixty years and a number of different political regimes. This surprising continuity allows Sabatino to reject the division of Italian history into sharply delimited periods such as Fascist Interwar and Democratic Postwar and to instead emphasize the long, continuous process that transformed pastoral and urban ideals into a new, modernist Italy.
Architectural Theory
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Vancouver photographer and video artist Stan Douglas (born 1960) has been celebrated since the late 1980s for his politically freighted retrievals of obsolete technologies and failed utopias. The emphatically narrative character of his films and photographs has made for comparisons with his Vancouver contemporary Jeff Wall, but Douglas also laces his work with a literary(...)
Stan Douglas: midcentury studio
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Vancouver photographer and video artist Stan Douglas (born 1960) has been celebrated since the late 1980s for his politically freighted retrievals of obsolete technologies and failed utopias. The emphatically narrative character of his films and photographs has made for comparisons with his Vancouver contemporary Jeff Wall, but Douglas also laces his work with a literary engagement, in references to works by Proust, Beckett and other writers. This publication sees Douglas pursue a new direction. It chronicles the burgeoning discipline of press photography in North America during the postwar period, for which Douglas assumes the role of a fictional photographer, creating a series of images hypothetically produced between 1945-1951. Douglas constructed a “mid-century studio” using authentic equipment as well as actors to produce carefully staged, black-and-white photographs that painstakingly emulate the period's obsession with crime scenes, dance, gambling and technology. This volume juxtaposes actual photographs from the era with Douglas' photo-fictions.
Photography monographs
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Perhaps the only postwar classical composer to invest avant-garde music with overt eroticism, Luc Ferrari (1929-2005) was one of France's leading composers of the twentieth century, relentlessly experimental while always preserving his keen sense of humor. Ferrari was a first-generation exponent of musique concrète, and made brilliant use of field recordings to develop(...)
Almost nothing with Luc Ferrari
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Perhaps the only postwar classical composer to invest avant-garde music with overt eroticism, Luc Ferrari (1929-2005) was one of France's leading composers of the twentieth century, relentlessly experimental while always preserving his keen sense of humor. Ferrari was a first-generation exponent of musique concrète, and made brilliant use of field recordings to develop sensual, proto-ambient narrative that he termed "anecdotal music" or "cinema for the ear." Perhaps the most notorious instance of this approach was Danses Organiques (1973), for which Ferrari recorded the meeting and sexual encounter of two young women, cut with other ambient and music sound. In his final decades Ferrari was championed by David Grubbs (of Gastr del Sol), who brought his music to a postrock audience. Almost Nothing is the first publication on this composer. It alternates Jacqueline Caux's interviews with 14 "imaginary autobiographies" by the composer, offering a lively account of new music's most revolutionary era.
Acoustics
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''Nejishiki'' unveils the most iconic scenes from Yoshiharu Tsuge’s highly respected body of work alongside his most beloved stories. A cornerstone of Japan’s legendary 1960s counterculture that galvanized avant-garde manga and comics criticism, the title story follows an injured young man as he wanders through a village of strangers in search of emotional and physical(...)
Nejishiki
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''Nejishiki'' unveils the most iconic scenes from Yoshiharu Tsuge’s highly respected body of work alongside his most beloved stories. A cornerstone of Japan’s legendary 1960s counterculture that galvanized avant-garde manga and comics criticism, the title story follows an injured young man as he wanders through a village of strangers in search of emotional and physical release. Other stories in this collection follow a series of weary travelers who while away sultry nights and face menacing doppelgängers. Even banal activities like afternoon strolls uncover unsavory impulses. The emotionally and erotically charged imagery collected in this third volume remains as shocking and vivid today as it did upon its debut fifty years ago. Tsuge’s stories push boundaries, abruptly crossing the threshold of conventional storytelling. Unassuming protagonists venture further into eerie symbolism against a shadowy, perceptibly dreamlike landscape easily mistaken for the real world. The angst that pervades postwar Japanese society threatens to devour his characters and their pastoral sensibilities as each protagonist’s wanderlust turns surreal.
Illustration
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This book is an account of the highly productive decade of architectural experimentation in Croatia lodged between the violent break-up of Yugoslavia and their slow integration into the EU. Ivan Rupnik guides the reader through the emergence of this bizarre and fascinating architectural scene on the very edge of united Europe, utilizing Ljubo Karaman's theory of the(...)
A peripheral moment: Croatia 1990-2010
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This book is an account of the highly productive decade of architectural experimentation in Croatia lodged between the violent break-up of Yugoslavia and their slow integration into the EU. Ivan Rupnik guides the reader through the emergence of this bizarre and fascinating architectural scene on the very edge of united Europe, utilizing Ljubo Karaman's theory of the periphery as a distinct space of artistic production from that of the center or province, Manfredo Tafuri's concept of architectural experimentation, as well contemporary notions of agency. The account is framed using a variety of different lenses, including the observations of this moment by renowned writers, through the atmosphere of the period as defined by Croatia's complex post-socialist/postwar identity and the subsequent positioning of the architectural profession vis-a-vis that context, the practices that emerged , and through a series of discussions with some of the peripheral moment's primary agent provocateurs: 3LHD, njiric +, Randic - Turato, and STUDIO UP.
Architecture since 1900, Europe
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Spanning 65 years of Ed Ruscha’s remarkable career and mirroring his own cross-disciplinary approach, ''Ed Ruscha / Now then'' features over 250 objects, produced from 1958 to the present, including paintings, drawings, prints, films, photographs, artist’s books and installations. Published to accompany the most comprehensive presentation of the artist’s work to date, and(...)
October 2023
Ed Ruscha / Now then: A retrospective
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Spanning 65 years of Ed Ruscha’s remarkable career and mirroring his own cross-disciplinary approach, ''Ed Ruscha / Now then'' features over 250 objects, produced from 1958 to the present, including paintings, drawings, prints, films, photographs, artist’s books and installations. Published to accompany the most comprehensive presentation of the artist’s work to date, and his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, this richly illustrated catalog highlights Ruscha’s most acclaimed works alongside lesser-known aspects of his practice. Essays by an interdisciplinary group of contributors examine Ruscha’s work under a new light, beyond the categories of Pop and Conceptual art with which he has traditionally been associated, to present fresh perspectives on one of the most influential figures in postwar American art. Taken together, they underscore Ruscha’s singular contributions, including his material exploration of language, experiments with unconventional mediums--nsuch as gunpowder, chocolate or chewing tobacco-- and his groundbreaking self-published books. Supplemented by an illustrated chronology and exhibition history, this publication captures the ceaseless reinvention that has defined his prolific, six-decade career.
books
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Reyner Banham (1922-88) was one of the most influential writers on architecture, design, and popular culture from the mid-1950s to the late 1980s. Trained in mechanical engineering and art history, he was convinced that technology was making society not only more exciting but more democratic. His combination of academic rigor and pop culture sensibility put him in(...)
Reyner Banham : historian of the immediate future
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Reyner Banham (1922-88) was one of the most influential writers on architecture, design, and popular culture from the mid-1950s to the late 1980s. Trained in mechanical engineering and art history, he was convinced that technology was making society not only more exciting but more democratic. His combination of academic rigor and pop culture sensibility put him in opposition to both traditionalists and orthodox Modernists, but placed him in a unique position to understand the cultural, social, and political implications of the visual arts in the postwar period. His first book, "Theory and Design in the First Machine Age", was central to the overhaul of Modernism, and it gave Futurism and Expressionism credibility amid the dynamism and change of the 1960s. This intellectual biography is the first comprehensive critical examination of Banham’s theories and ideas, not only on architecture but also on the wide variety of subjects that interested him. It covers the full range of his oeuvre and discusses the values, enthusiasms, and influences that formed his thinking.
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October 2001, Cambridge, MA
Architectural Theory
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When World War II came along, the American military found itself in need of a prefabricated, lightweight shelter that could be easily shipped and quickly assembled. The quonset hut, that sliced tube of corrugated metal, was the answer. Over a hundred thousand were produced as part of the war effort. In its aftermath, even more were built and existing huts were adapted to(...)
Quonset hut : metal living for a modern age
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When World War II came along, the American military found itself in need of a prefabricated, lightweight shelter that could be easily shipped and quickly assembled. The quonset hut, that sliced tube of corrugated metal, was the answer. Over a hundred thousand were produced as part of the war effort. In its aftermath, even more were built and existing huts were adapted to house the postwar population boom. Of course, it couldn't last: the American desire for permanence meant decay and neglect for many of these rough-and-ready shelters and quickie warehouses. But in the midst of its almost tragic tale of extinction, the quonset hut has emerged as an unexpected icon of Americana and an oasis of architectural imagination. Travel the back roads of America and you will find the quonset's distinctive shape enclosing everything from houses of worship to houses of pancakes. "Quonset Hut" tells the story of this unique architectural phenomena, from its birth during WWII as a mass-production shelter to its new status as an icon of American pragmatism, ingenuity, perseverance, and individuality.
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MiMo : Miami modern revealed
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"MiMo : Miami Modern Revealed" is the first comprehensive survey of the rich postwar architecture that epitomizes the romance and energy that is Miami. Well-known for its revitalized South Beach Deco architecture, Miami's vibrant strain of modern architecture combines attention to space, form, and innovative design with a nuanced subtropical exoticism particular to the(...)
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June 2004, San Francisco
MiMo : Miami modern revealed
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"MiMo : Miami Modern Revealed" is the first comprehensive survey of the rich postwar architecture that epitomizes the romance and energy that is Miami. Well-known for its revitalized South Beach Deco architecture, Miami's vibrant strain of modern architecture combines attention to space, form, and innovative design with a nuanced subtropical exoticism particular to the region, the gateway between the United States and Latin America. From humble motels to sprawling ocean-side resorts, this lively style also thrives in the city's civic, domestic, and commercial architecture. "MiMo" tracks the history and development of the Magic City from the days of nightclub acts and swank hotels to the advent of the crystalline downtown skyscrapers, including detailed overviews of work by Morris Lapidus, Gilbert Fein, and regional masters Alfred Browning Parker, Norman M. Giller, and others. Preservation-minded, the authors list the important buildings which did not survive decades of redevelopment, and conclude with a chapter on the effort to protect threatened MiMo masterpieces. Hundreds of recent and period photographs from the heyday of Miami glamour complete this celebration of some of the hottest architecture around.
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Joseph Beuys and history
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Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) was one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century—and one of the most controversial. Working in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, he explored a radically expanded concept of art through a practice that ranged from performative actions to large-scale sculptural ensembles. While some contemporaries found his claim that(...)
Joseph Beuys and history
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Joseph Beuys (1921–1986) was one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century—and one of the most controversial. Working in Germany in the aftermath of World War II, he explored a radically expanded concept of art through a practice that ranged from performative actions to large-scale sculptural ensembles. While some contemporaries found his claim that “everyone is an artist” liberating, even revolutionary, others accused him of fostering a dangerous cult of personality. In "Joseph Beuys and History", the first rigorous art historical study of the artist in English, Daniel Spaulding presents a striking new interpretation of Beuys’s work and career. By putting Beuys in the context of Germany’s postwar recovery, Spaulding shows that the artist’s superimposed biological, political, and economic metaphors offered a powerful way to think about the trajectory of human freedom, the place of art in capitalist modernity, and the possibility of an ecological aesthetics. At the same time, his oeuvre’s disquieting echoes of the Nazi past suggest that not everything could be reconciled in what Beuys called “social sculpture.”
Contemporary Art Monographs