The central argument of Chromophobia is that a chromophobic impulse – a fear of corruption or contamination through colour – lurks within much Western cultural and intellectual thought. This is apparent in the many and varied attempts to purge colour, either by making it the property of some ‘foreign body’ – the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, or the pathological – or by relegating it to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential, or the cosmetic.

Colour is a given of most people’s everyday lives, but at the same time it lies at the limits of language and understanding. David Batchelor’s previous book for Reaktion, Chromophobia, addressed the extremes of love and loathing that colour has provoked since antiquity. This book charts more ambiguous terrain.The Luminous and the Grey is a study of the places where colour comes into being and where it fades away, an inquiry into when colour begins and when it ends...

‘Despite our agrarian mythology, Aotearoa New Zealand is overwhelmingly a country of urban dwellers.’Urban Aotearoa: The Future for Our Cities takes a critical look at the evolution of New Zealand’s cities. Moving past the country’s rural image, the book addresses the realities of its urban majority, questioning suburban spread and exploring options for smarter living. A range of contributors provide insights that span housing trends, Māori urban development, Pacific design, climate actio...

The central argument of Chromophobia is that a chromophobic impulse—a fear of corruption or contamination through color—lurks within much Western cultural and intellectual thought. This is apparent in the many and varied attempts to purge color, either by making it the property of some foreign body—the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, or the pathological—or by relegating it to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential, or the cosmetic. Chro...

The central argument of Chromophobia is that a chromophobic impulse—a fear of corruption or contamination through color—lurks within much Western cultural and intellectual thought. This is apparent in the many and varied attempts to purge color, either by making it the property of some "foreign body"—the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, or the pathological—or by relegating it to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential, or the cosmetic. Ch...

This book contains now several HTML tables of contents that will make reading a real pleasure! Content: * The Wonderful Wizard of Oz * The Marvelous Land of Oz * Ozma of Oz * Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz * The Road to Oz * The Emerald City of Oz * The Patchwork Girl of Oz * Tik-Tok of Oz * The Scarecrow of Oz * Rinkitink in Oz * The Lost Princess of Oz * The Tin Woodman of Oz * The Magic of Oz * Glinda of Oz

Wassily Kandinsky's book, 'The Spiritual in Art,' delves into the abstract, non-representational nature of art and its spiritual possibilities. Kandinsky explores the idea of art as a form of expression that transcends the physical world, tapping into the realm of the spiritual and emotional. His writing style is reflective and introspective, drawing on his own experiences as a pioneering abstract artist. This book is a landmark in art history, as it marks a significant shift away from tra...

Depicting Canada’s Children is a critical analysis of the visual representation of Canadian children from the seventeenth century to the present. Recognizing the importance of methodological diversity, these essays discuss understandings of children and childhood derived from depictions across a wide range of media and contexts. But rather than simply examine images in formal settings, the authors take into account the components of the images and the role of image-making in every...

A guide to the cultural, historical, and social meanings of twenty-seven colors, plus examples of successful usage of each as well as options for palette variations.The Designer's Dictionary of Color provides an in-depth look at twenty-seven colors key to art and graphic design. Organized by spectrum, in color-by-color sections for easy navigation, this book documents each hue with charts showing color range and palette variations. Chapters detail each col...

"A fresh, revelatory, golden eagle's eye-view of western literature." — Financial TimesEarly in Grammars of Creation, George Steiner references Plato's maxim that in "all things natural and human, the origin is the most excellent." Creation, he argues, is linguistically fundamental in theology, philosophy, art, music, literature—central, in fact, to our very humanity. Since the Holocaust, however, art has shown a tendency to linge...

From a cinematic grand master, "one of the most readable books of movie criticism, and one of the most instructive" ( American Film Institute).An icon. A rebel. A legend. The films of François Truffaut defined an exhilarating new form of cinema for moviegoers the world over. But before Truffaut became a great director, he was a critic who stood at the vanguard, pioneering an innovative way to view movies and to write about the cinematic arts. Now, for the ...

If you're from the "I don't know zip about color - but I know what I like" school of color theory, this book's for you. You won't find color wheels or lectures on color harmony here . . . just 500+ tried-and-true color combinations derived from actual design work - posters, packages, even giftware - created over the past century by designers, artists and color experts. You'll find historical color combinations from the Victorian period, Art Deco era, Far-out Sixties, Rave craze - plus curr...