Art: Ceramics, Prehistoric Art, & Jewlery

Ceramics of Shimaoka Tatsuzo: Living National Treasure of Japan, A Retrospective 2000 (BOOK): by Martha Longenecker & Rob Sidner

Shimaoka began making pottery in 1939 as a student at the Tokyo Institute of Technology's Department of Ceramics. During Shimaoka's freshman year, he visited Hamada in Mashiko and was granted apprenticeship upon graduation. Shimaoka joined Hamada's workshop from 1946-49. Four years later, he built his own, independent kiln adjacent to his teacher's in Mashiko.

Gilded Vessel: The Lustrous Art and Life of Beatrice Wood (BOOK): by Garth Clark

Beatrice Wood turned to ceramics late in life at age 40, but still managed to work behind a potter's wheel for nearly 65 years. Influenced by the Dada movement, her lusterware pottery, with its rich and decadent palette of shimmering gold and silver, vindian greens, incandescent pinks, and intense purples, has captivated generations of collectors. Gilded Vessel is not so much a biography as a celebration of the life and ceramic artistry of Beatrice Wood. Glorious color pictures reveal the iridescent beauty of her pottery, while black-and-white photographs document the life, loves and luster, of a woman New York Times Magazine hailed as one of the great lives of the 20th century.

Image and Audience: Rethinking Prehistoric Art (BOOK): by Richard Bradley

There have been many accounts of prehistoric 'art', but nearly all of them begin by assuming that the concept is a useful one. In this extensively illustrated study, Richard Bradley asks why ancient objects were created and when and how they were used. He considers how the first definitions of prehistoric artworks were made, and the ways in which they might be related to practices in the visual arts today Extended case studies of two immensely popular and much-visited sites illustrate his argument: one considers the megalithic tombs of Western Europe, whilst the other investigates the decorated metalwork and rock carvings of Bronze Age Scandinavia.

Loud Bones: The Jewelry of Nancy Worden (BOOK): by Michelle LeBaron & Susan Noyes Platt

Nancy Worden's work explores the cultural dynamics that shape contemporary social and political agendas, emphasizing the female experience in the United States. Her jewelry is forceful, unapologetic, demanding, and gripping; often humorous, sometimes painful, but never timid. This is the first scholarly examination of her career.

The Art of Peter Voulkos (BOOK): by Rose Slivka & Karen Tsujimoto

This volume examines the work of Peter Voulkos, an influential figure in American ceramics.

The Way Jews Lived: Five Hundred Years of Printed Words and Images (BOOK): by Constance Harris

The author presents through pictures and text a social history of Jewish life and art in the last 500 years. Each chapter relates the brief history of a period, devoting particular attention to events concerning Jewish life.

Read Green: Environmental Topics

Check these out in Brooks Library. Reading library books and checking out library films keeps our planet greener than if each individual were to buy those items themselves. Especially if you're only going to read or watch that material once!

Energy in America: A Tour of Our Fossil Fuel Culture and Beyond (BOOK): by Ingrid Kelley

" A Tour of Our Fossil Fuel Culture and Beyond, Ingrid Kelley delivers a concise yet comprehensive explanation of the key intersections of energy, the environment, the economy, and sustainability. Kelley describes how our power is generated and delivered, how to cut our still profligate use of it, what renewable energy options are open to us, and - most important to this audience - how planners can apply the lessons of sustainability in their communities . . . the chapter titled "Community Energy and Sustainability" is a goldmine for planners . . . I plan to use Kelley's book this spring as a text in my graduate school class on climate change. In fact, I think it should be on every planner's shelf."--Planning Magazine

Green Living Handbook: A 6 Step Program to Create an Environmentally Sustainable Lifestyle (BOOK): by David Gershon

A movement . . . of unquestionable zeal is challenging consumption at the grassroots . . . local support groups called EcoTeams are methodically helping members reduce the amount and kind of material that flows in and out of homes.
The New York Times

The process works even for those who consider themselves hard-core environmentalists. A senior sales executive and an EcoTeam member says, As a result of the awareness the group has brought us, we all have changed our consumption habits and our lifestyles, in the products we purchase, and the utilities we use .
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to do About It (BOOK): by Robert Glennon

America faces a water-supply crisis. Profligate consumption of water for agriculture, power generation, industry, and homes has led to reduction of groundwater, threats to rivers, and danger to many of the nation’s lakes. Much of the blame for this state of affairs lies with uncontrolled growth in the nation’s South and Southwest. Desert cities such as Las Vegas use fountains as decorations. Phoenix households draw down the finite resources of ever-shrinking Lake Mead. In great detail, Glennon documents present and future water crises in Georgia, California, and even seemingly water-rich Michigan, noting that states generally end up competing with one another over water allocation and that international conflict follows in short order. Desalination offers little immediate hope because of economic and ecological barriers. Glennon submits a list of possible reforms to decrease water consumption. Some, such as waterless toilets, are technological innovations. Others, such as restructuring sewer systems, require governmental intervention. --Mark Knoblauch

Art Theory, Art Education, Cave Art and African Textiles

Art Majors, Art Education Majors, and the Art Community will appreciate these new books.

Art Theory: an Historical Introduction (BOOK): by Robert Williams

"[It] chronologically covers the history of thought about art from antiquity to postmodernism. Art theory, art criticism and art history, as well as philosophy, rhetoric, myth, literature, mathematics, theology, semiotics, the natural sciences, psychology, music, linguistic theory, psychoanalysis, Marxism and feminism (among others), are drawn upon to yield reflections on art. Particular emphasis is laid in this extraordinarily fluid synopsis on the relationship between art and knowledge." The Art Newspaper

Educating in the Arts: the Asian Experience, Twenty-four Essays (BOOK): edited by Lindy Joubert

Arising out of the need to promote not only arts and educational practices but also the research and evaluations being achieved in the field this book explores Asian artists and their practices. Writing about their own practical experiences, the authors explore linkages between creativity and discipline; of social organization and individual expression and how inventiveness and economic productivity are inextricably linked.

The Creative Ice Age Brain: Cave Art in the Light of Neuroscience (BOOK): by Barbara Olins Alpert

Mystery surrounds the magnificent Ice Age art that is found mainly in the caves of Western Europe. In this substantial new study, scholar Barbara Alpert approaches this art using information from psychology and discoveries in neuroscience. Techniques such as computerized tomography (CT) scans and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have demonstrated an enormous amount about the working of the brain. By examining the oldest-known human-made images in the light of this new information, Alpert reveals many of the impulses that underlie their creation. She shows how the art is based on a visual language found worldwide--one that appears to be universal for our species.

The Essential Art of African Textiles: Design Without End (BOOK): Alisa LaGamma and Christine Giuntini

This informative and beautiful volume sheds light on the enduring significance of textiles as a major form of aesthetic expression across Africa, relating long-standing cultural practices to recent creative developments. Some of the finest and oldest preserved examples of West African textile traditions are presented, and both their artistic and technical qualities are examined. Wrapped around the body, fashioned into garments, or displayed as hangings, these magnificent textiles include bold strip weavings and intricately patterned indigo resist-dyed cloths.