The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture

The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture
Author: James Stevens Curl
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 1040
Release: 2015
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0199674981

With over 6,000 entries, this is the most authoritative dictionary of architectural history available.

The Confusion between Art and Design

The Confusion between Art and Design
Author: Tsion Avital
Publisher: Vernon Press
Total Pages: 428
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1622739779

In the past century the borders have blurred between art and design. Designers, artists, aestheticians, curators, art and design critics, historians and students all seem confused about these borders. Figurative painting was reduced to graphic design while still being called 'art'. Figurative sculpture was reduced to nonfunctional industrial design while being called 'sculpture'. This fundamental blunder resulted from total misunderstanding of the concept of "abstraction" by the founders of modern art. Comprehensive analysis shows that so-called "abstract art" is neither abstract nor art, but a very simple, even trivial, kind of design. In this book the prehistoric, philosophical, logical, historic and religious sources of the confusion between art and design are analyzed. A new and coherent conceptual framework is proposed, to distinguish between art and design. Nearly one hundred distinctions, contradistinctions and comparisons between art and design are presented, showing clearly that they are totally independent domains. Philosophy of art books are written by philosophers for philosophers, not for artists and designers; therefore they are irrelevant for the latter, especially for students who normally lack the necessary conceptual training. This book is not only for theoreticians but for art and design practitioners at all levels. This is a new kind of book: an illustrated philosophical book for the art and design world, which can make philosophical knowledge accessible and useful for solving real problems for designers and artists who are mostly visual rather than conceptual thinkers. The book contains over two hundred images; thus art and design people can easily follow the arguments and reasoning presented in this book in their own language; images. Lack of distinction between art and design harms both. Design is contaminated by the ills of modern art, while modern art cannot recover from its current stagnation whilst under the illusion that it is actually art rather than design.

A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art

A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art
Author: Ian Chilvers
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 786
Release: 2009
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0199239657

This unique and authoritative reference work contains more than 2,000 clear and concise entries on all aspects of modern and contemporary art. Its impressive range of terms includes movements, styles, techniques, artists, critics, dealers, schools, and galleries. There are biographical entries for artists worldwide from the beginning of the 20th century through to the beginning of the 21st, from the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto to the French sculptor Jacques Zwobada. With international coverage, indications of public collections and publicly sited works, and in-depth entries for key topics (for example, Cubism and abstract art), this dictionary is a fascinating and thorough guide for anyone with an interest in modern and contemporary culture, amateur or professional. Formerly the Dictionary of 20th Century Art, the text has been completely revised and updated for this major new edition. 300 entries have been added and it now contains entries on photography in modern art. With emphasis on recent art and artists, for example Damien Hirst, it has an exceptionally strong coverage of art from the 1960s, which makes it particularly ideal for contemporary art enthusiasts. Further reading is provided at entry level to assist those wishing to know more about a particular subject. In addition, this edition features recommended web links for many entries, which are accessed and kept up to date via the Dictionary of Modern Art companion website. The perfect companion for the desk, bedside table, or gallery visits, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art is an essential A-Z reference work for art students, artists, and art lovers.

Multilingual Glossary for Art Librarians

Multilingual Glossary for Art Librarians
Author: IFLA Section of Art Libraries
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2015-03-30
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110977656

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the information profession. The series IFLA Publications deals with many of the means through which libraries, information centres, and information professionals worldwide can formulate their goals, exert their influence as a group, protect their interests, and find solutions to global problems.

Archigram

Archigram
Author: Simon Sadler
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2005-06-24
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780262693226

The first book-length critical and historical account of an ultramodern architectural movement of the 1960s that advocated "living equipment" instead of buildings. In the 1960s, the architects of Britain's Archigram group and Archigram magazine turned away from conventional architecture to propose cities that move and houses worn like suits of clothes. In drawings inspired by pop art and psychedelia, architecture floated away, tethered by wires, gantries, tubes, and trucks. In Archigram: Architecture without Architecture, Simon Sadler argues that Archigram's sense of fun takes its place beside the other cultural agitants of the 1960s, originating attitudes and techniques that became standard for architects rethinking social space and building technology. The Archigram style was assembled from the Apollo missions, constructivism, biology, manufacturing, electronics, and popular culture, inspiring an architectural movement—High Tech—and influencing the postmodern and deconstructivist trends of the late twentieth century. Although most Archigram projects were at the limits of possibility and remained unbuilt, the six architects at the center of the movement, Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, David Greene, Ron Herron, and Michael Webb, became a focal point for the architectural avant-garde, because they redefined the purpose of architecture. Countering the habitual building practice of setting walls and spaces in place, Archigram architects wanted to provide the equipment for amplified living, and they welcomed any cultural rearrangements that would ensue. Archigram: Architecture without Architecture—the first full-length critical and historical account of the Archigram phenomenon—traces Archigram from its rediscovery of early modernist verve through its courting of students, to its ascent to international notoriety for advocating the "disappearance of architecture."

Visual Culture

Visual Culture
Author: John A. Walker
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 1997-12-15
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780719050206

This book is about the expanding realm of visual culture: in architecture, art, design, advertising, photography, film, television, video, theatre performance, computer imagery and virtual reality. It is also about Visual Culture Studies, a relatively new academic discipline, or rather range of disciplines, that scholars employ to analyse visual artefacts. Unlike many other texts on the same subject, it foregrounds the ‘visual’ and is systematic and accessible. Visual culture provides an overview of the subject that pays heed to the achievements of both traditional and new theory whilst directing the reader to a large body of literature via references and an extensive bibliography. Walker and Chaplin discuss the concepts of ‘the visual’ and of ‘culture’ as well as the field and origins of Visual Culture Studies; coping with theory; models of production and consumption; institutions; pleasure; the canon and concepts of value; visual literacy and poetics; modes of analysis; culture and commerce; and new technologies. This book is designed for those studying the history and theory of fine arts, design and the mass media.