There are times in your life when you find yourself pondering basic general knowledge questions and your gaps in information. So, if you've passed through education and still find yourself asking "Where's your liver?" or "What beats a full house in poker?" and are too embarrassed to ask, this book can help.
Visual Aid provides the answers to the little questions in life in a simple colourful and engaging way. Included are: colour wheels, universal flags, star constellations, correct tablesettings, how reflexology works, the Italian wine regions, how to tie a knot, how to use chopsticks, sign language, morse code and many more. This eclectic collection of illustrations and diagrams will get you up to speed on life's basics, without the need for extensive reading--or even your utmost attention. In a small, handy format this accessible guide is perfect for anyone with an interest in visual stimuli or a thirst for general knowledge.
With all the zany vibrancy of a Bollywood musical, the colorful matchbox labels of LIGHT OF INDIA present a fascinating confluence of popular culture and a sophisticated graphic arts tradition that stretches back for centuries. Populated with pouncing Bengal tigers, regal jungle elephants, and Hindu gods and goddesses, these miniature masterpieces are worlds unto themselves, skillfully illustrated with a naive yet irresistible charm. This delightful art book is sure to fire the imagination of all who wish to study, preserve, and celebrate India's more humble, but no less brilliant, visual arts heritage. A dazzling collection of more than 300 vintage matchbox labels from India, dating from the turn of the century through the 1950s. Includes a discussion of Hindu iconography, recurring visual themes and symbols, and the cultural and historical significance of matchbox art. A great resource for graphic artists and designers, collectors of paper ephemera or advertising art, and students of Indian culture. Gift edition slipcase includes a textured novelty "striker strip" along the spine.Reviews"Masterpieces pop up where you least expect them, as revealed in Light of India."-East Bay Express
The rise of globalism has created tremendous challenges to old economic, political, and cultural paradigms, changes that are increasingly reflected in diverse artistic practices across the planet. If disciplinary boundaries are now crossed as easily as geographic ones, how does the new internationalism that we are facing affect aesthetics and artistic production? Is there a link, for example, between the rise of video works and the global availability of digital media? Does the global information age facilitate an international language of art and an alternative reading of history, from art history toward art histories? From the perspective of a museum of modern and contemporary art--a purely European construct--the art institution has to overcome a major contradiction, one that exists between its mission of permanence and its mission of change. To invite and encourage such dialogue, How Latitudes Become Forms looks at current scholarship on globalism and changing curatorial practices, and identifies critical models provided by artists themselves, featuring thought-provoking essays and conversations by curators, critics, and cultural programmers from across the world, as well as multidisciplinary artworks by more than 40 artists from Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States. Including conversations with Cuauhtemoc Medina & Vasif Kortun, Kathy Halbreich & Vishakha Desai, Steve Dietz & Raqs Media Collective, Philip Bither, Baraka Sele and Philippe Vergne.
"GLOBAL AGE. Sm4to, 352pgs. Book has a unique binding, bound in illustrated paper wraps held together with chrome screws and titling stamped on exposed text block spine, very clever. Catalog is an extensive examination of the exhibition replete with color images and writings on the show. One of the screws is missing from the binding, front cover at spine edge has a 1/4 semi-circle closed tear, corner tips of pgs.215-352 are slightly bumped and cover edges are lightly worn, otherwise book is solid and interior is clean and bright.
Mehndi, the ancient art of painting on the skin with henna, beautifies the body, rejuvenates the spirit, and celebrates the joys of creativity and self-expression. More than just a temporary tattoo, mehndi offers us a way to participate in a centuries-old tradition still practiced in India, Africa, and the Middle East.
In this stunning and authoritative book, Loretta Roome traces the origins and meanings of traditional designs, demonstrates how to create them on the skin, and reveals the recipes, tools, and techniques needed to paint designs that range from simple to complex. The result of years of research and the author's experience as one of the nation's foremost mehndi artists, Roome's book offers practical information, creative inspiration, and many suggestions for enhancing the playful, intimate, sensual, erotic, and spiritual aspects of the ancient and amazing art of mehndi.
Assembled in the form of a thick block, this book reproduces approximately 600 word drawings, paintings and works on paper by the Los Angeles-based American artist Edward Ruscha (b. 1937). The result is a sort of novel without an obvious plot, a series of words with no narrative. monochromatic, abstract background in the late 1950s and has continued to explore the language-based imagery that has become a hallmark of his work. Pulling elements from the visual language of advertising and commercial art, he has made hundreds of word prints, drawings, and paintings that exhibit an interplay between bold letters and shaded backgrounds. Some of the works consist of only one word - great, mud, trust; others of short combinations or phrases - Indeed I do, She sure knew her devotionals and They called her Styrene.
"Fascinating....Provocative."
--New York Times
"Answering this question reveals a great deal about your personality, priorities and interests."
--The Guardian (UK)
If your house were on fire, what would you take? Foster Huntington has collected answers to this telling question from thousands of responders all over the world to get to the heart of what it is that people truly value. The result is The Burning House, featuring the best of Huntington's popular website, TheBurningHouse.com along with a wealth of all-new material. Fascinating and remarkably revealing, The Burning House provides a captivating keyhole into people's lives, feelings, and innermost thoughts that will especially appeal to the many fans of PostSecret, Not Quite What I Was Planning, Found, and Awkward Family Photos. Illustrated with sometimes moving, often unusual photographs of people's most prized possessions, The Burning House ingeniously celebrates the differences between human beings around the globe--and the surprising similarities that unite us all.
- A revealing Introduction by Rainn Wilson
- 180 Life's Big Questions (the ones that gnaw at your innards)
- Visual masterpieces from 90+ artists
- Unusual activities that launch you into the world
- Exclusive commentary from the fascinating minds of: Amy Sedaris, David Lynch, Heather Armstrong (Dooce.com), Dr. Drew, Jesse Dylan, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Harold Ramis, Josh Ritter, and Saul Williams.
The primal role of art in awakening and liberating the soul of humanity
- Presents a seven-stage journey of transformation moving from the darkened soul to the light of spiritual illumination - Provides a meditation practice to experience the spiritual energy embedded within art - Includes artists Alex Grey, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Walter Gaudnek, and others Art and Spiritual Transformation presents a seven-stage journey from the darkened soul to the light of spiritual illumination that is possible through the world of art. Finley Eversole introduces a meditation practice that moves beyond the visual content of an art form in order to connect with its embedded spiritual energy, allowing the viewer to tap in to the deeper consciousness inherent in the artwork and awaken dormant powers in the depths of the viewer's soul. Examining modern and postmodern artwork from 1945 onward, Eversole reveals the influences of ancient Egypt, India, China, and alchemy on this art. He draws extensively on philosophy, myth and symbolism, literature, and metaphysics to explain the seven stages of spiritual death and rebirth of the soul possible through art: the experience of self-loss, the journey into the underworld, the experience of the dark night of the soul, the conflict with and triumph over evil, the awakening of new life in the depths of being, and the return and reintegration of consciousness on a higher plane of being, resulting finally in ecstasy, transfiguration, illumination, and liberation. To illustrate these stages, Eversole includes works by abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko and modern visionary artists Alex Grey and Ernst Fuchs, among others, to reveal the powerful and liberating forces art contributes to the transformation and evolution of human consciousness.
This book showcases some of the finest examples of The National Maritime Museum's collection of prints of ports from this period. Prints are analysed as commercial and art objects, rathers than as simple historical records of matters maritime. The aim is to address a broad audience, including general readers of eighteenth and nineteenth century British and colonial history, those interested in ports and maritime affairs, and those with an interest in prints themselves.
The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a period of enormous political and commercial development across the globe. Of particular importance was the revolution in transportation and communication by sea, with the concomitant growth in size and importance of the seaport. Despite growing awareness that the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a formative period in the development of maritime art, there has been relatively little exploration of maritime prints. This is extraordinary, since the period c.1700-1870 was a golden age of print production and saw the development of new forms of engraving such as aquatint and lithography, as well as the production of beautiful examples of line engraving and woodcut. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the establishment and expansion of major ports not just in Britain, but in continental Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and in North and South America. The National Maritime Museum, upon which collection this book is based, is at the centre of the preservation and display of Britain's maritime heritage. Its print collection reveals the firm link between art and commerce in the development of these ports.
