Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980

Book Description

Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980 is a unique introduction to several important themes that have recurred in art over the past few decades. Examining visual art from 1980 to the present, it takes an intriguing and accessible approach that motivates students and other readers to think actively about and discuss contemporary art--what it means and how it means what it does. The opening chapter provides a concise overview of the period, analyzing how four key changes (the rise of new media, a growing awareness of diversity, the influence of theory, and interactions with everyday visual culture) have resulted in an art world with dramatically expanded boundaries. Reflecting the paradigm shift from a formalist way of teaching studio art to more varied and open-ended concepts, the remaining six chapters each deal with a key theme--time, place, the body, language, identity, and spirituality. Each chapter features an introduction to the thematic topic; a brief look at historical precedents and influences; a detailed analysis of how contemporary artists have responded to and embodied aspects of the theme in specific works; and an in-depth and fascinating profile of an artist who has extensively explored aspects of the theme in his or her work. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980 shows how art can be interpreted from several different angles: techniques and materials, historical circumstances, aesthetic qualities, theoretical issues, and an artist's ideas and intentions. Writing in a lucid and engaging style, the authors skillfully reveal the multiple levels of meaning in artworks, drawing connections between contemporary art, art of the past, and everyday existence. The volume is enhanced by 87 illustrations--19 in full color--that demonstrate an immense variety of materials, subjects, and styles. These well-chosen examples will help readers learn to critically describe, interpret, and evaluate contemporary visual art. A bibliography and a timeline that situates contemporary art in the context of major events in world history, art, and popular culture are also included. An ideal core text for courses in contemporary art history, Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980 can also be used as a supplement in modern art, art appreciation, art criticism/theory, and studio art courses.

Average customer rating:

Themes Of Contemporary Art: Visual Art After 1980
Craig McDaniel Jean Robertson
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKN3RS

Book Description

Do you think you're funny?
Do you want to turn your sense of humor into a career?

If the answer is yes, then Judy Carter's The Comedy Bible is for you. The guru to aspiring stand-up comics provides the complete scoop on being -- and writing -- funny for money.

If you've got a sense of humor, you can learn to make a career out of comedy, says Judy Carter. Whether it's creating a killer stand-up act, writing a spec sitcom, or providing jokes for radio or one-liners for greeting cards, Carter provides step-by-step instructions in The Comedy Bible. She helps readers first determine which genre of comedy writing or performing suits them best and then directs them in developing, refining, and selling their work.

Using the hands-on workbook format that was so effective in her bestselling first book, Stand-Up Comedy: The Book, Carter offers a series of day-by-day exercises that draw on her many years as a successful stand-up comic and the head of a nationally known comedy school. Also included are practical tips and advice from today's top comedy professionals -- from Bernie Brillstein to Christopher Titus to Richard Lewis. She presents the pros and cons of the various comedy fields -- stand-up, script, speech and joke writing, one-person shows, humor essays -- and shows how to tailor your material for each. She teaches how to find your "authentic" voice -- the true source of comedy. And, perhaps most important, Carter explains how to take a finished product to the next level -- making money -- by pitching it to a buyer and negotiating a contract.

Written in Carter's unique, take-no-prisoners voice, The Comedy Bible is practical, inspirational, and funny.

Customer Reviews:

If You Want To Learn Comedy, This Is Your Book........2007-08-15

I've bought and read quite a few 'stand up' how-to's, and this book is the one I keep coming back to for material development, stage presence, just all the 'basics' that one needs to keep on touching base with. It's easy to follow, easy to read, and not pretentious. Judy WANTS to help you be the best presenter you can be, and makes you think about other venues and opportunities besides stand up that might be more appropriate for you. A lot of books are 'stand up' related only, but Judy's book explores other ways people can tap into their creativity and use it in many other ways.
WELL worth the money and I won't EVER loan this puppy out!! Thank you, Judy!!

The Information in this Book Far Outweighs the Price.......2007-07-28

This book is a worthwhile investment. Here's why:

1) The stand-up intruction is priceless. In reading this book you should be able to go from knowing absolutely nothing about performing stand-up to having an edge on most aspiring comedians.
2) Carter covers every medium for comedy, from stand-up to writing sitcoms.
3) The book is very well-written. It's easy to read and understand. It's interactive and fun. It teaches you to think.
4) It is filled with resources. Places to book a gig. People to contact. Where/How to send your script to Hollywood.
5) Carter invites you to contact/email her personally. She wrote this book to help you succeed. She puts her money where her mouth is.

The only comedy book you need.......2007-06-30

I've read a number of books on comedy, and this one is the best by far. The author has broken down the steps to writing great comedic material into logical, easy to follow instructions. Few how-to books are as clearly written as this one. This comprehensive book can teach anyone how to be a better comedian. I can highly recommend "The Comedy Bible" not only as the perfect textbook for building a career in comedy -- or even just to add a comic touch to one's writing or public speaking -- but also as a "fun to read" book. Prepare to LOL as you perfect your comedy skills.

David Rizzo
Dr. Roadmap

It was okay.......2007-04-15

It's not a whole lot different than her first book, so if you've read one, no need to read the other, unless you like to collect comedy how to books.

Great reference book.......2007-03-28

I was looking for a comedy book for a gift and after reading several reviews I decided on this book. The gift recipient loved it. I definitely made the right choice.

Book Description

Mr. Schickel takes on eight of Hollywood's finest directors in conversation--Hitchcock, Capra, Minnelli, Cukor, Hawks, Wellman, Vidor, and Walsh--reminiscing about their working lives which spanned the most intriguing decades of American filmmaking. Each of these directors created a canon of work that even today sustains critical analysis without sacrificing popular appeal. Immensely readable and richly informative...it provides a real education in just how movies are made....One of the best introductions to the cinema that one could ask for. --Library Journal

Customer Reviews:

Revealing Interaction with Eight "Masters".......2002-04-30

For more than 20 years, I relied on Schickel for guidance when determining which films to see; also, for gaining a better understanding of the films I had seen. In this volume, he provides interviews with eight great directors: Hitchcock, Capra, Minimill, Cukor, Hawks, Wellman, Vidor, and Walsh. In recent weeks, I have also read Robert J. Emery's two The Directors (Take One and Take Two) and Bogdanovich's Who the Devil Made It which also offer interviews and conversations with various great directors. Don't worry about duplications; that is, what Cukor, Hawks, Hitchcock, Walsh, and Wellman have to say. Bogdanovich, Emery, and Schickel have different questions to ask, different nuances of film making to explore, and approach the directors from quite different perspectives. The responses they obtain from the same directors differ. For that reason, I strongly urge fellow film buffs to purchase all of these volumes. The order in which they are read is unimportant.

What differentiates Schickel from Bogdanovich and Emery is the fact that, for many years, he wrote film reviews for Time magazine and thus had an immense audience with which to share his opinions about more than a thousand films. Also, he is the author of more than 20 books about film making which include biographies of Marlon Brando, Cary Brando, and James Cagney. Over the years, he has earned and richly deserves his reputation as one of the most thoughtful and knowledgeable of film authorities. In this volume, he interacts with eight of the greatest film directors. At no time does he seem intimidated by them nor does he ever disrupt the flow of information exchanged with self-serving observations. He guides each director into subject areas which are probably of great interest to most film buffs but he also allows each director to ramble, digress, etc. when reminiscing or when sharing specific opinions about films and actors with whom they were associated. Sure, there is some delicious gossip. And yes, some insights not otherwise available. However, for the most part, Schickel sets up various subjects and then allows each director (many of them a personal friend) to proceed wherever he may wish, at whatever pace he may prefer. His brilliant orchestration of responses ensures their scope and depth. That is to say, he did not merely turn on the recorder and then let each of the eight take it from there. On his reader's behalf, Schickel remains actively involved, indeed engaged in the exchange of information but at no time is intrusive. Within its genre, this is indeed a "classic."

Covers special challenges and observations.......2001-05-28

This film critic's survey of eight of Hollywood's finest directors and their works uses the interview process to explore the work of American filmmakers over the last decades. Hitchcock, Capra, Cuckor and others share their achievements in a revealing set of interviews covering special challenges and observations.

Men Who Made the Movies: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Ho

Average customer rating:

Men Who Made the Movies: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Ho
RICHARD SCHICKEL
Manufacturer: See notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RQEXP0

The Men who made the movies: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor, Raoul Walsh, and William A. Wellman

Average customer rating:

The Men who made the movies: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor, Raoul Walsh, and William A. Wellman

Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0689106319

The men who made the movies;: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor, Raoul Wallace, and William A. Wellman

Average customer rating:

The men who made the movies;: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor, Raoul Wallace, and William A. Wellman
Richard Schickel
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006W31R6

Average customer rating:

Men who Made the Movies
Rh Value Publishing
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0517185407
Release Date: 1976-09-29

Men Who Made the Movies: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitch

Average customer rating:

Men Who Made the Movies: Interviews with Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitch
Richard Schickel
Manufacturer: ELM TREE BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLNDNG

Average customer rating:

The Men Who Made the Movies: Interviews With Frank Capra, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Vincente Minnelli, King Vidor, Raoul Walsh, and William A. Wellman
Richard Schickel
Manufacturer: Atheneum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RBKOR6

Product Description

All time favorite from the world of classical music. Arranged for piano/organ with guitar chords. Includes IL Bacio, Air On The G String, Toreador Song and many more.

Customer Reviews:

Classical Fake?.......2007-01-10

Well I'm disappointed... Have enjoyed several other of the "Fake" series, but this was a letdown... Many of these are contained in some of the other "Best of" & "Ultimate" editions, and in at least one case the other books actually have a better more complete arrangment.. I guess it depends on what you're shopping for, but this was not one of my favorites..

The Great Composers Fakebook (Fakebooks)

Average customer rating:

The Great Composers Fakebook (Fakebooks)

Manufacturer: Amsco Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Songbooks | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Product Description

A revised and expanded edition of the original Great Composers Fakebook, this book contains over 130 favorite renaissance, baroque, classical, romantic, and operatic themes with melody line and chord symbols. Favorite pieces by composers such as Albeniz, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Grieg, Handel Mozart, Puccini, Strauss, Tchaicovsky and many others.

Average customer rating:

Legit Fakebook 1 - C Book (Fakebooks)

Manufacturer: Ashley Publications Inc./Larrabee Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Songbooks | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 082565257X
Release Date: 1963-12-31

Book Description

192 arrangements perfect for small combos in a variety of styles from ballads and Dixieland tunes to waltzes and sacred songs.

THE ULTIMATE JAZZ FAKEBOOK B FLAT EDITION OVER 625 STANDARDS AND JAZZ CLASSICS (THE ULTIMATE JAZZ FAKEBOOK)

Average customer rating:

THE ULTIMATE JAZZ FAKEBOOK B FLAT EDITION OVER 625 STANDARDS AND JAZZ CLASSICS (THE ULTIMATE JAZZ FAKEBOOK)

Manufacturer: HAL LEONARD PUBLISHING CO.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000OB6GDU

Product Description

625 OF THE SONGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO EVERY JAZZ LIBRARY. CAREFULLY CHOSEN CHORDS WITH SOME COMMON PRACTICE CORD SUBSTITUTIONS. LYRICS TO ACCOMODATE VOCALISTS. EASY TO READ MUSIC TYPOGRAPHY. COMPOSER AND PERFORMER INDEXES.

Savage Species: Playing Monstrous Characters (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)
Average customer rating:

excessive and a little confusing

Review for the Savage Species

A Mixed Result

This book is not necessary with 3.5

Great concept gone horribly wrong

Savage Species: Playing Monstrous Characters (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)
David Eckelberry , Jennifer Clarke Wilkes , Rich Redman , and Sean K Reynolds
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Dungeons & Dragons | Gaming | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Complete Warrior (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)

Heroes of Horror (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)

Complete Adventurer: A Guide to Skillful Characters of All Classes (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)

Player's Handbook II (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)

Libris Mortis: The Book of the Undead (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)

ASIN: 0786926481
Release Date: 2003-02-01

Book Description

A New Breed of Adventurer

Whether wondrous or wicked, some monsters have a calling that reaches beyond the ordinary existence of their kind. Traveling alongside other intrepid characters, these heroic creatures carve their places in legend with sword, spell, tooth, and claw.

This supplement for the D&D game provides everything you need to play a monster as a character or to make the monsters your heroes fight even more formidable. Inside are over 50 all-new monster classes that show how creatures develop their characteristics and abilities as they gain levels. Along with new prestige classes and monster templates, Savage Species also features new feats, spells, magic items, and more.

To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. A player needs only the Player's Handbook and the Monster Manual.

Customer Reviews:

excessive and a little confusing.......2006-03-14

The idea of playing monster pcs is really neat and interesting, but most of how to do that is covered in the monster manuals and is much easier to understand. I was a little befuddled at the many templates, which are neat unto themselves, I just don't really see spending time creating these creatures in a campaing. They are plenty of monsters and other supplemeants to create baddies for your pcs to deal with. A flying dog? Okay, so just have a dog with wings, no 'winged creature' templete really needed. Are you really going to use a gelatinous bear? Do you have the time and patience to come up with an appropiate balanced creature with all the stats and adjustmeants involved? To me, the templates are a long involved process that doesn't really lend to the creative process. A spectre lurker? Neat, but a little much for most players to accept. It was just wayy out there for the most part. Also not starting out at level one can be a bit confusing and these levels in monster are a bit much to grasp and handle. So you advance in levels, but don't get any benefit of a class until you reach 'x' level. So that means (and I'm not entirely sure on this one) you would have to play extra smart until you got your class going and what hit die would you use? 10, 12, 4? It doesn't usually say as far as the 'humanoid' is concerned. Also how would this monster character fit in? Wouldn't every civilization pretty much be afraid of them and try to kill them or run from them? It doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun and lots of requiremeants and stats and rules to keep up can seem like a nightmare propisition. I really felt like it was a rehash of the monster manual and the prestiage classes are a little to esoteric in a diverse game world. But if you just have a hankering to play monster characters, then perhaps this will help you, but otherwise they are other supplemeants to introduce you to various races that are d20 in nature and also done by wotc that you could include in your campaing without upsetting balance and causing confusion. I mean, Palladium fantasy has TONS of races that would fit right into your world, with of course appropiate adjustmeants with the stats and that is just one example, I'm sure there are plenty more that would fit the bill. This one, in my estimation, is like a steak that is just overcooked.

Review for the Savage Species.......2005-07-25

It's a good aid for dungeon masters. Expecially when characters want to play something other than the standard character classes.
Many worked out examples and lots of guidelines for setting up your own monsters as player characters.

A Mixed Result.......2004-04-28

Though this text is a handsome volume, packed with cool ideas and tons of crunchy bits, and moreover though I happen to like it quite a lot, it does not fully overcome the charges levelled against it, namely:

--it is a partial rehashing of 2E's *Complete Book of Humanoids* (which is less serious than the following, since 3E is basically just a rehashing of 2E in general),

--its unfortunate partial obsolescence (3.5E does indeed provide LA for each "playable" creature in the most recent *MM*--though *Savage Species* will ultimately consider all creatures to be "playable," whereas *MM* clearly does not), and

--the sad fact that WotC invests what must be approaching $0 in copyediting.

Those reservations noted, it must be said that the text opens up in 3E a new vista; instead of relying on the vanilla races of the *PH*, one can now, say, run a party of harpy infiltrators, a band of trollish barbarians, a medusa rogue, or (gods forbid it) a hive of illithids, demons, or some other uberpowerful beasties as PCs. (Though the *DMG* hints at such a vista, its suggestions proved to be unwieldy, incomplete, and generally confusing to most of us gamer-geeks.)

The text has many virtues in this regard:

1) new feats, spells, items, and prestige classes for monstrous folk, all generally well conceived.

2) some fair-to-middling notes on how to run a campiagn centered on the misadventures and cross accidents inevitably encountered by a group of bugbear PCs, for instance.

3) loads of bombass templates (these really are worthy of attention).

4) the reconceptualization of the game system entirely in terms of class--now, everything is a matter of class--no more monster advancing by the nebulous Hit Die (but this still doesn't resolve the bizarre aspect that Hit Die never correlated with CR; recall that level in a PC class always correlates with CR--why the inconsistency?).

5) tons and tons of statistical tables (the true value of the text). These also come with a set of guidelines to produce similar "class template" tables for any monster in the system--a very high degree of diversity for any game, which is surely a plus.

6) the introduction of both the "half-ogre" and "anthropomorphic animal" standard PC races (very good additions to the rules).

7) some very fine artwork

In these respects, there is value here, but unfortunately the aforementioned problems will limit its appeal and utility.

This book is not necessary with 3.5.......2004-02-22

If your playing with the 3.5 player's handbook, monster manual, and dungeon master's guide; this book is unnecessary. Because many ELs and LAs have been adjusted, and the entire system for LAs has been simplified with 3.5, this book has been rendered somewhat obsolete. It's best remaining features are some of it's example content (spells/feats/example progressions), but this book isn't going to be as helpful at a 3.5 table running a game using level adjustments.

Great concept gone horribly wrong.......2003-12-20

Well, the book starts out with a great concept- Monster races as PC's and how to balance them. It also introduces the idea of "monster class progression"- which allows one to start a beginning campaign with a "first level rakshasa" if one gets DM OK.

How did this brilliant idea go so very wrong? First is the literaly scads of typos & mistakes. Nearly every "monster class" has several very significant errors (the Rakshasa does not have any natural armour listed, for instance). WotC has also failed to do any Errata on this book- so far (and it seems doubtful- see next paragraph).

But worse is the timing and planning. The book was pushed as being compliant with 3.5, but after the 3.5 MM came out, it was clear that Savage Species was anything but. Thus, a fairly expensive book became mostly obsolete within months of it's publication.

Still, there is an extensive system the DM can use to design his own "monster classes", and this remains useful. But the timing & errors make this book a bad buy for the player who has updated to 3.5.

Let's Trek: The Budget Traveller's Guide Federation Worlds (Televisin, Popular Culture)
Average customer rating:
Let's Trek: The Budget Traveller's Guide Federation Worlds (Televisin, Popular Culture)
James Van Hise
Manufacturer: Movie Publisher Services
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1556983360

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books