Sites Unseen challenges conventions for viewing and interpreting the landscape, using visual theory to move beyond traditional practices of describing and classifying objects to explore notions of audience and context. While other fields, such as art history and geography, have engaged poststructuralist theory to consider vision and representation, the application of such inquiry to the natural or built environment has lagged behind. This book, by treating landscape as a spatial, psychological, and sensory encounter, aims to bridge this gap, opening a new dialogue for discussing the landscape outside the boundaries of current art criticism and theory. As the contributors reveal, the landscape is a widely adaptable medium that can be employed literally or metaphorically to convey personal or institutional ideologies. Walls, gates, churchyards, and arches become framing devices for a staged aesthetic experience or to suit a sociopolitical agenda. The optic stimulation of signs, symbols, bodies, and objects combines with physical acts of climbing and walking and sensory acts of touching, smelling, and hearing to evoke an overall \u201cvision\u201d of landscape.Sites Unseen considers a variety of different perspectives, including ancient Roman visions of landscape, the framing techniques of a Moghul palace, and a contemporary case study of Christo's The Gates, as examples of human attempts to shape our sensory, cognitive, and emotional experiences in the landscape.

Healing Appalachia is the first book to apply "appropriate technology," or the simplest level of technology that can effectively achieve the desired result, specifically to the Appalachian region. The authors examine thirty low-cost, people-friendly, and environmentally benign appropriate technologies that are concerned with such issues as food preservation, land use, shelter, and transportation. They pay close attention to the practicality of each technique according to affordability, ease of use, and ecological soundness. Details on construction and maintenance and resources for locating further information are included, making this an essential volume for everyone who cares about the future of Appalachia.

How do music and dance reveal the ways in which a community interacts with the world? How are the senses used in communicating cultural knowledge? In Sensational Knowledge, ethnomusicologist and dancer Tomie Hahn uncovers the process and nuances of learning nihon buyo, a traditional Japanese dance form. She uses case studies of dancers at all levels, as well as her own firsthand experiences, to investigate the complex language of bodies, especially across cultural divides. Paying particular attention to the effect of body-to-body transmission, and how culturally constructed processes of transmission influence our sense of self, Hahn argues that the senses facilitate the construction of "boundaries of existence" that define our physical and social worlds. In this flowing and personal text, Hahn reveals the ways in which culture shapes our attendance to various sensoria, and how our interpretation of sensory information shapes our individual realities. An included DVD provides visual examples.

For more than 30 years, the action movie has been the film genre that most represents Hollywood to the world, as action films find blockbuster success at box offices internationally. Still, the genre seldom receives the critical attention it deserves. Studying its trends, key components, and visual excesses, this new and expanded edition of Action Speaks Louder traces the genre's evolution to reveal how it has come to assume its place of prominence in American culture. With scores of in-depth case studies-including films such as Dirty Harry, RoboCop, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Armageddon, Spider-Man, War of the Worlds, and The Incredibles-author Eric Lichtenfeld draws on film analysis, production histories, critical responses, studio marketing materials, and original filmmaker interviews. Up-to-date and comprehensive, Action Speaks Louder is the definitive study of the movies' most kinetic form of fun.

With a Foreword by Roger W. Moss Although Clay Lancaster (1917-2000) established himself as an expert on New York brownstones and California bungalows, the nationally known architectural historian also spent four decades photographing architecture in his native Kentucky. Lancaster had no flash bulb, no tripod, no close-up or wide-angle lenses, but he had a good eye and a love for his subject, producing photos that are works of art as well as documents of local history. Many of the buildings he photographed have been demolished, while others have been restored. Displaying over 150 starkly beautiful black-and-white images alongside James D. Birchfield's insightful commentary, Clay Lancaster's Kentucky not only reveals the architectural treasures found in the Bluegrass State but also demonstrates the vision of an artist.

Hogarth has long been viewed as an insular and chauvinistic individual, with a particular aversion to all things French. On the contrary, while Hogarth himself liked to project this image, his effective invention of British art was founded upon a profound knowledge of contemporary French art and theory. This lavishly illustrated book conjures up in great detail the French and wider European context within which Hogarth's art was formed. Robin Simon examines the ways in which Hogarth interacted with and influenced his contemporaries not only in painting and printmaking, but also in sculpture, poetry, the novel, the theater, public life, art education, copyright law, music and opera. In this wide-ranging but richly detailed book, full of analyses of individual works, the author draws upon a mass of new material, with fresh analyses of Hogarth's most famous and less well-known works alike, opening a window on to one of the most creative and formative periods in British life. Robin Simon, FSA, is Editor of The British Art Journal, having been Editor of Apollo magazine and a tenured university academic for many years before that. He is the author of many scholarly articles on British art, and his books include The Portrait in Britain and America (1987).

Film noir--a cycle of American films from the 1940s and '50s--is characterized not only by a constant opposition of light and shadow and a disruptive compositional balance of frames and scenes, but also by dark, foreboding characters and plots and an overriding sense of alienation and moral ambiguity. Noir films reflect the sense of loss, fragmentation, and nihilism at the heart of the human condition in the twentieth century. Although the classic film noir period ended in the late 1950s, its impact on more films has been profound. While typically not black and white, these new films incorporate the noir sensibility of alienation, pessimism, moral ambivalence, and disorientation. This sensibility is obvious in films such as Blade Runner, Reservoir Dogs, Chinatown, and Memento. Until now, little scholarly attention has been paid to the unique philosophical conventions of the widely popular neo-noir genre. In The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, editor Mark T. Conard and other contributors explore the philosophical foundations of neo-noir, using the films to discuss and explain traditional philosophical ideas as well. The themes and topics covered include justice and moral corruption; problems of memory and identity; human nature, space, time, and subjectivity; crime and punishment; pain and redemption; and spiritual transcendence. Conard argues that neo-noir films have benefited as censorship has relaxed, giving current filmmakers a rich noir tradition from which to draw.

Two-time Academy Award winner Sir David Lean (1908-1991) was a prominent director in the world of twentieth-century cinema, responsible for such classics as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, and Lawrence of Arabia. British-born Lean asserted himself in Hollywood as a major artistic voice with his epic storytelling and panoramic depictions of history, but he was also a highly skilled film editor in Great Britain before he became a director who brought an art-house sensibility to big market films. Lean's approach to filmmaking was far different from that of his contemporaries. He carefully chose his projects and, as a result, directed only sixteen films in a span of more than forty years. Those films, however, are some of the landmarks of motion-picture history. In addition to his epics, Lean also made adaptations of well-known novels, including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and A Passage to India, and plays, including Brief Encounter. Using elements of both biography and film criticism, author Gene D. Phillips examines the screenplays and production histories central to Lean's body of work and interviews actors and other directors who worked with Lean. Phillips also explores Lean's lesser-studied films, such as The Passionate Friends, unearthing new details. This in-depth examination of Lean in a cultural, historic, and cinematic context makes Beyond the Epic truly unique -- a vital assessment of a great director's artistic process and his place in an evolving film industry.

In the wake of the blockbuster television success of "Dancing with the Stars," competitive ballroom dance has become a subject of new fascination-and renewed scrutiny. Known by its practitioners as DanceSport, ballroom is a significant dance form and a fascinating cultural phenomenon. In this first in-depth study of the sport, dancer and dance historian Juliet McMains explores the "Glamour Machine" that drives the thriving industry, delving into both the pleasures and perils of its seductions. She further explores the broader social issues invoked in American DanceSport: representation of "Latin," economics that often foster inequality, and issues of identity, including gender, race, class, and sexuality. Putting ballroom dance in the larger contexts of culture and history, Glamour Addiction makes an important contribution to dance studies, while giving new and veteran enthusiasts a unique and unprecedented glimpse behind the scenes.

In this exploration of the funk groove and its unique sounds, author Anne Danielsen takes an in-depth look at this under-explored genre. Danielsen concentrates on the golden age of funk in the late 1960s and the 1970s, focusing on two of the era's artists who made a substantial impact on the landscape of popular music: James Brown and George Clinton/Parliament. Aiming to understand funk not only as objectified musical meaning but also as lived experience, she begins with the musical events themselves and draws on her experiences as both a fan and a scholar to capture how their particular organization creates the funk listener's pleasure. Danielsen further examines issues surrounding race in the construction and consumption of this music, focusing her study with how white listeners responded to funk in the 1970s, and arguing that African American music has remained a means of catharsis and of dealing with pleasures of the body. Funk's crossover to international success among listeners of pop and rock music affected both the music itself and audiences' understanding of it. Presence and Pleasure shows us how.

As cartoons and animated features became an increasingly important part of the entertainment business, the production of cartoons industrialized to meet growing demands for the new global media. Artists adopted traditional union models to protect their jobs and working conditions, and a unique set of unions was born. Drawing the Line is the first labor history of an industry whose principle figures--Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, and Max Fleischer--helped define American entertainment. Author Tom Sito, Disney animator and former president of the Hollywood Animation Guild, draws on oral histories, archival information, and firsthand knowledge of the animation process to create an insider's history of a colorful set of labor unions. Sito describes the history and fiery personalities behind the formation of the Screen Cartoonists Union, the strikes and walk-outs, the effects of Hollywood blacklisting, and the battles at the bargaining tables. He closes with a look at the changing nature of animation and the way in which current giants Disney and Dreamworks are again reshaping the relationship between studios and animators. Well illustrated with never-before-seen images from the backstage of classic Hollywood, Drawing the Line will change basic assumptions about animation history and its place in the story of American labor.

During her twelve years with Ballet Society and the New York City Ballet, Barbara Milberg worked under the direction of George Balanchine. She rose from corps de ballet to soloist, danced leading roles in Swan Lake and Illuminations, and performed in celebrated world premieres. In this observant and poignant memoir, she shares her recollections of Balanchine, his craft and his values, and lends insight into surprising aspects of his personality. Fisher gives readers a rare glimpse inside Balanchine's artistry, including vivid accounts of the makings of such important ballets as Schoenberg's Opus 34, AGON, and the world-famous Nutcracker. Told through the eyes of a young dancer in what seemed a truly magical place and time, In Balanchine's Company is ideal for ballet fans young and old. Rich in anecdote, insight, and humor, it offers a unique perspective on one of the twentieth century's cultural giants.

When Oskar Reinhart (1885–1965) bequeathed a significant part of his remarkable art collection – chiefly of French nineteenth-century painting but also containing a number of outstanding Old Masters – to the Swiss nation, he did so on condition that the works of art would never be loaned. As a consequence the many very important works in the collection have not been discussed in major exhibition catalogues and have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. This volume, with full entries on the entire collection of 207 works by 45 leading scholars in their field, both American and European, and superb plates carefully checked against the originals, sets out to rectify this state of affairs. Artists represented by several works in the collection that Reinhart made his monument include: Cézanne (11), Chardin (4), Corot (9), Courbet (10), Daumier (20), Delacroix (9), Géricault (2), Van Gogh (5), Maillol (8), Manet (4), Picasso (4), Pissarro (2), Renoir (15), Sisley (2). A well illustrated introduction explains the ideas and context behind Reinhart’s collecting and affords insights into his character.

This edited volume of forty-four papers on terracottas opens with a section on New Research , followed by five geographical sections on: Etruria; Umbria and Abruzzo; The Faliscans, Rome and Latium; Campania and Magna Graecia; and Sicily. The terracottas in question are the various parts of roofing systems used by the ancient Italians Italic, Etruscan and colonial Greek and cover both domestic and temple architecture. Thirty-three papers are in Italian, nine in English and two in German.

Britain is widely considered the cradle of independent music culture. Bands like Radiohead and Belle and Sebastian, which epitomize indie music's sounds and attitudes, have spawned worldwide fanbases. This in-depth study of the British independent music scene explores how the behavior of fans, artists, and music industry professionals produce a community with a specific aesthetic based on moral values. Author Wendy Fonarow, a scholar with years of experience in the various sectors of the indie music scene, examines the indie music "gig" as a ritual in which all participants are actively involved. This ritual allows participants to play with cultural norms regarding appropriate behavior, especially in the domains of sex and creativity. Her investigation uncovers the motivations of audience members when they first enter the community and how their positions change over time so that the gig functions for most members as a rite of passage. Empire of Dirt sheds new light on music, gender roles, emotion, subjectivity, embodiment, and authenticity.

Musical Childhoods and the Cultures of Youth is an immensely rich contribution to childhood studies and shows how children are socialized into the musical life of their communities. Children have rarely been central to musicological or anthropological studies, and childhood was once dismissed as too early in the human developmental process to be of significant interest. In a variety of historical, social, and cultural frameworks, these 10 essays address subjects as diverse as choirboys in early modern Seville, the griot culture of West Africa, and Jewish youth at summer camp. The essays reveal childhood as a time all its own, a time when individual identities are forged through music, and when voices emerge in ways that are as personal as they are communally bound and musically varied. This is an important book for music scholars, educators, cultural and social historians, and for scholars across the social sciences, as well as anyone interested in childhood. It sheds new light on children and youth cultures as alternately dependent upon and independent from the "grown-up" musical worlds that surround them.