George Gershwin: A New Biography
William G. Hyland, “George Gershwin: A New Biography”
Praeger | 2003-08-30 | ISBN: 0275981118 | 312 pages | PDF | 5,7 MB
Hyland reveals both the man and his creations, revealing how Gershwin became the first composer to apply popular music to classical forms, how his work reflected the turmoil of America in the Jazz Age, and how, despite his fame, he never achieved the happiness and contentment a genius of his stature deserved. This is a fascinating new biography that no Gershwin fan–and no music fan–should be without.
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Superheroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films
Roz Kaveney, “Superheroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films”
I. B. Tauris | 2008-03-18 | ISBN: 1845115694 | 288 pages | PDF | 5 MB
Modern myths, cheap trash or the objects of fetishist desire?
Most people know something about Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman, even if what they know is heavily filtered through film and television versions, rather than the comics in which they first appeared. Yet, even though the continuity of the DC and Marvel Comics universes rival or surpass in size almost anything else in Western culture, surprisingly little attention has been paid to comics, which we are supposed to grow out of.
In Superheroes!, acclaimed cultural commentator Roz Kaveney argues that this is a mistake, that, at their best, superhero comics are a form in which some writers and artists are doing fascinating work, not in spite of their chosen form, but because of it.
Superheroes! discusses the slow accretion of comic universes from the thirties to the present day, the ongoing debate within the conventions of the superhero comic about whether superheroes are a good thing and the discussion within the comics fan community of the extent to which superhero comics are disfigured by misogyny and sexism. Roz Kaveney attempts to explain the differences between Marvel and DC, the notion of the floating present (or why Spider-Man, fifteen when he adopted the costume, is still only in his early thirties), and the various attempts by both companies to re-invent and re-boot individual characters and their entire continuity universes. She also looks at the influence of comics on the group of film and television screenwriters she calls “the fanboy creators,” all of whom moonlight as comics script writers, using Joss Whedon as her case study, and examines the adaptation of well-known comics into large-budget feature films, not always to the advantage of the material.
Categories: Artbooks Tags: Capes, Comics, Crusaders, Superheroes
U-X-L Graphic Novelists: Profiles of Cutting Edge Authors and Illustrators, Volumes 1-3
Tom Pendergast, Sara Pendergast, Sarah Hermsen, “U-X-L Graphic Novelists: Profiles of Cutting Edge Authors and Illustrators, Volumes 1-3″
UXL | 2006-11-01 | ISBN: 1414404409 | 720 pages | PDF | 22,3 MB
The 75 alphabetically arranged articles include profiles of authors, illustrators, and author-illustrators. Coverage is comprehensive, encompassing early examples from Europe (such as Georges Remi, aka Herge, and his Tintin series, published between 1929 and 1976, and Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, creators of Asterix the Gaul, who debuted in 1961); American standards (Will Eisner, whose 1978 A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories is considered to be the first graphic novel, and Art Spiegelman, whose Maus: A Survivor’s Tale won a Pulitzer); and current creators of Japanese manga (CLAMP, a four-woman studio, and Akira Toriyama, of Dragon Ball fame). Other subjects include iconic personalities such as Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, and Harvey Kurtzman, founder of MAD Magazine, as well as reclusive manga-ka (Japanese comic artists), who prefer to let their art speak for itself. Entries span several pages, have color and black-and-white portraits and illustrations, and end with further-reading suggestions. The set also contains an introduction, which provides historic perspectives; a separate essay on manga; an annotated directory of publishers; a glossary of terms; and a detailed index.
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Categories: Artbooks Tags: Cutting, Edge, Illustrators, Profiles
Global Design History
Glenn Adamson, Giorgio Riello and Sarah Teasley, “Global Design History”
Ro utle dge | 2011 | ISBN: 0415572878, 0415572851 | 240 pages | PDF | 2,9 MB
Globalism is often discussed using abstract terms, such as ‘networks’ or ‘flows’ and usually in relation to recent history. Global Design History moves us past this limited view of globalism, broadening our sense of this key term in history and theory.
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Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture (Marxism and Culture)
Gregory Sholette, “Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture (Marxism and Culture)”
Publisher: Pluto Press | ISBN 10: 0745327524 | 2011 | PDF | 304 pages | 5.2 MB
Art is big business, with some artists able to command huge sums of money for their works, while the vast majority are ignored or dismissed by critics. This book shows that these marginalized artists, the
“dark matter” of the art world, are essential to the survival of the mainstream and that they frequently organize in opposition to it.
Gregory Sholette, a politically engaged artist, argues that imagination and creativity in the art world originate thrive in the non-commercial sector shut off from prestigious galleries and champagne receptions. This broader creative culture feeds the mainstream with new forms and styles that can be commodified and used to sustain the few artists admitted into the elite.
This dependency, and the advent of inexpensive communication, audio and video technology, has allowed this “dark matter” of the alternative art world to increasingly subvert the mainstream and intervene politically as both new and old forms of non-capitalist, public art. This book is essential for anyone interested in interventionist art, collectivism, and the political economy of the art world.
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Categories: Artbooks Tags: Age, art, Enterprise, Politics
Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters, 6 edition
Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters, 6 edition
W..orth Pu-shing | 2009 | ISBN: 0495567647 | 368 pages | PDF | 11,6 MB
Intended to be the core text for the introductory interpersonal communication course at two- and four-year colleges and universities in departments of speech, communication, and human relations.
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Categories: Artbooks Tags: Communication, Encounters, Interpersonal
Anarchy and Art: From the Paris Commune to the Fall of the Berlin Wall
Allan Antliff, “Anarchy and Art: From the Paris Commune to the Fall of the Berlin Wall”
Arsenal Pulp Press | 2007-04-01 | ISBN: 1551522187 | 224 pages | PDF | 7,3 MB
One of the powers of art is its ability to convey the human aspects of political events. In this fascinating survey on art, artists, and anarchism, Allan Antliff interrogates critical moments when anarchist artists have confronted pivotal events over the past 140 years. The survey begins with Gustave Courbet’s activism during the 1871 Paris Commune (which established the French republic) and ends with anarchist art during the fall of the Soviet empire. Other subjects include the French neoimpressionists, the Dada movement in New York, anarchist art during the Russian Revolution, political art of the 1960s, and gay art and politics post-World War II. Throughout, Antliff vividly explores art’s potential as a vehicle for social change and how it can also shape the course of political events, both historic and present-day; it is a book for the politically engaged and art aficionados alike. Allan Antliff is the author of Anarchist Modernism.
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Founders of Comic Fandom: Profiles of 90 Publishers, Dealers, Collectors, Writers, Artists and Other Luminaries
Bill Schelly, “Founders of Comic Fandom: Profiles of 90 Publishers, Dealers, Collectors, Writers, Artists and Other Luminaries of the 1950s and 1960s”
McFarland | 2010-07-09 | ISBN: 0786443472 | 236 pages | PDF | 3,8 MB
In the 1950s and ’60s, a grassroots movement arose to celebrate comic books and strips, which were becoming increasingly important to American popular culture. This broad group of ardent readers and collectors had little formal structure until the 1950s. As the art and literary form grew in popularity, a dedicated core began building an organized network. Profiled here are 90 people at the heart of the movement: indexers, dealers, fanzine publishers, convention organizers, writers, artists, active collectors and industry professional
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Categories: Artbooks Tags: Artists, Collectors, Dealers, Luminaries, Publishers, Writers
The DC Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the DC Universe
Martin Pasko, “The DC Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the DC Universe”
Running Press | 2008-10-07 | ISBN: 0762432578 | 192 pages | PDF | 49,2 MB
In 1935, popular culture was forever transformed when DC Comics published the first book of “all new, all original” comic material. To the delight of millions of readers everywhere, the modern comic book was born, and from its pages came leaping an exhilarating cast of characters.
Now The DC Vault unlocks DC Comics’ most fascinating secrets and deeply buried treasures, presenting a colorful array of historic and never-before-published memorabilia, including early sketches, covers, memos, press materials, and much more. From a working reproduction of a 1942 Junior Justice Society of America decoder, to a series of Public Service Announcements starring Superman and Batman, to the original pencils and inks for Wonder Woman #63, this dazzling chronicle contains more than 25 plastic-encased archival pieces for readers to pull out and examine—all while learning about the artists, writers, and world-famous super heroes that make up the DC Universe. Whether you’ve been collecting Superman comics since the ’40s or have just discovered the amazing Sandman saga, you’ll revel in this vibrant treasury!
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Categories: Artbooks Tags: Book, Collectibles, Museum, Universe
5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides)
Matthew Inman, “5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides)”
Andrews McMeel Publishing | 2011 | ISBN: 1449401163 | 160 pages | EPUB | 24.75 Mb
In Matthew Inman’s 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides), samurai sword-wielding kittens and hamsters that love .50-caliber machine guns commingle with a cracked out Tyrannosaur that is extremely hard to potty train. Bacon is better than true love and you may awake in the middle of the night to find your nephew nibbling on your toes.
Inman creates these quirky scenes for theoatmeal.com, which launched in July 2009 and already has more than 82 million page views. In fact, every 15 to 30 seconds, someone Googles one of theoatmeal.com’s creations. Now, 60 of Inman’s comic illustrations and life-bending guides are presented in full-color inside 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides). Consider such handy advice as:
• 4 Reasons to Carry a Shovel at All Times
• 6 Types of Crappy Hugs
• 8 Ways to Tell if Your Loved One Plans to Eat You
• 17 Things Worth Knowing About Your Cat
• 20 Things Worth Knowing About Beer
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