Art Books Research Articles

Understanding pictorial metaphor in comic book covers: A test of the contextual and structural frameworks

Conceptual metaphor theory proposes that metaphor is a mental function, rather than solely a literary device. As such, metaphors may be present in any by-product of human cognition, including pictorial art. Crawford and Juricevic previously proposed two heuristic frameworks for the identification and interpretation of metaphor in pictures, which have been shown to be capable of describing how pictorial metaphors are identified and interpreted in the comic book medium. The present study tested artists’ preference for combinations of contextual and structural pictorial information in comic book cover images. We analysed usages of exaggerated size in comic book cover art, as exaggerated size is a pictorial device, which may be used both literally and metaphorically. The goal was to assess how contextual and structural information is combined, and how literal and metaphorical information interacts, both when it is congruent and incongruent. This analysis of the use of exaggerated size in comic book art indicates that artists prefer to produce images that have congruent combinations of literal and metaphoric pictorial information, or the incongruent combination of metaphoric contextual information and literal structural information. Artists do not, however, prefer to produce images that have the incongruent combination of metaphorical structural information and literal contextual information. Taken together with the Corpus Analysis Relevance Theory (CART) argument, this pattern suggests that when processing information, our cognitive systems prefer metaphorical interpretations over literal interpretations and contextual information over structural information.

N’importe où hors du monde : Susan Bee in Paris

“I want the paintings to create a space that people want to be in, that the paintings will give them some hope for the future.” Susan Bee On November 27, 2019, I had the pleasure to host a talk by artist, editor, and book artist Susan Bee. An audience of professionals and art students from Paris College of Art attended the event and were introduced to Bee’s rich and multifaceted creative universe. A New York native, Bee has developed, since the early 1970s, a deeply personal painterly style c...

Artes gráficas y la Exposición Nacional del libro de 1928: materialidad, arte e industria en la producción del libro en Argentina

En septiembre de 1928 tuvo lugar en Buenos Aires la Primera Exposición Nacional del Libro, evento que aglutinó gran parte de las discusiones en torno al desarrollo de la industria editorial en la década de 1920, al tiempo que representó un hito significativo para la consolidación de las artes gráficas en Argentina.
 En las primeras décadas del siglo XX diversas iniciativas institucionales configuraron, paulatinamente, una tradición del grabado como un “arte del libro”, aliado de la ilustración literaria. La Exposición colaboró en gran medida con este proceso: destinó un espacio dedicado a la exhibición de grabados y ediciones de lujo y contó con una comisión especial de ilustradores integrada, entre otros, por Adolfo Bellocq y Alfredo Guido quienes desplegaron una intensa labor como promotores del grabado de ilustración desde la práctica artística y pedagógica. Asimismo, se recurrió a una estrategia para promocionar el evento que contaba con cierta tradición en el mundo de la gráfica: el concurso de carteles artísticos.
 Así, se analiza esta exposición en sus aspectos vinculados con la circulación de imágenes e ideas en torno al libro como objeto y, particularmente, las tempranas tensiones referidas a las artes gráficas en el contexto de la industria editorial argentina.

The Wings of Atalanta: Essays Written along the Color Line

The Wings of Atalanta: Essays Written along the Color Line

일본전근대] 주제 제한성 탈피를 위한 방법론의 전환: 일본 전근대사 연구의 동향과 과제

This article observes research trends of Japanese premodern history studies published in the Korean academic world during the two years of 2018 and 2019 and based on this, it predicted future research direction. The following research trend characteristics were found. First, there was a noticeable increase in the number of studies that dealt with the same subject material using innovative approaches and unique and creative research methodologies. Second, intensified Korean-style research was shown. Third, research bases were expanded with the publications of annotations and source books and attempts were being made for the popularization of Japanese history through the publications of high quality liberal arts books, academic journals, and translations. Fourth, research was conducted actively on excavated text data such as wooden tablets and memorial inscriptions and most were products of Japanese researchers. In general, judgments can be made that conversions have been attempted to break away from subject limitations. Meanwhile, it seems that the absence of controversy within the academic world and a lack of relations among researchers of the same field are tasks that must be resolved in the future.

Mind-body Relationship in Chinese Martial Arts

Mind-body dualism and body-mind monism are striking differences between the Western and the Eastern in sports culture. There are various types of martial arts in east Asia such as Japanese budo, Korean taekwondo and Chinese martial arts. During the past dozen years, many efforts have been focused on budo or taekwondo. However, what seems to be lacking is little attention has been given to Chinese martial arts. By analyzing Chinese martial arts books, such as Ji xiao xin shu (紀効新書), Taiji quanpu (太極拳譜, text book of taiji), Chinese classics, such as Mencius (孟子), Guan zi(管子), as well as other related materials, this study aims to clarify how body-mind relationship is presented in Chinese martial arts. The result are as follows: (1) Chinese martial arts focuses on both internal and external training (内外兼修). Such phenomenon is affected by the unification of man and nature (天人合一). (2) The unification of man and nature in Chinese martial arts mainly appears in two ways, the outer approaches (manipulating the "body” to learn, to adapt or to imitate nature) and inner approaches (emphasizing the importance of “mind”). (3) Mind has received more attention as an important prerequisite for affecting body, while, in order to training mind, we have to enter from the body. The relationship of body and mind are circulated and unified.

КНИЖНЫЙ АРТ-ДВОРИК: АВТОРСКИЙ ПРОЕКТ В ПРОДВИЖЕНИИ ЧТЕНИЯ

In a modern urbanistic society, the urban environment is not only an element of improvement, but also a factor of human impact. The book art courtyard allows you to decorate the courtyard area according to the appropriate theme. Dedicated to books and reading, the art courtyard is an effective means of promoting reading

Editor’s Plaisance

Editor’s Plaisance

La edición como proceso colectivo: libros de artista del proyecto IMPRESOPORMI

This article examines the print collective project IMPRESPORMI. Micropoéticas, in the city of La Plata, Argentina. In particular, the artist's books corresponding to the #4 edition carried out in 2015, are analyzed. On that occasion, 12 artists` books were edited, which were created by duos of guest artists - a visual artist and one from the field of lyrics - from of the trigger Words and things. The investigation of this work is located between the studies of the Artist's Book and collective artistic practices within the framework of contemporary artistic production. In that sense, some definitions of Artist's Book as a category of visual arts are replaced, as well as some classification criteria that are operative for the analysis of the selected corpus. A qualitative methodology was implemented; the analysis was made from direct observation of the artist's books, a personal interview and the collection of additional information in digital media such as social networks, blogs and websites. On this basis, it is considered that IMPRESOPORMI editions combine Artist's Book formats, assembled magazines, hybrid publications and the DIY (Do It Yourself) edition, which favour a wide circulation and access through seriality and reproducibility. Similarly, IMPRESOPORMI is enrolled in a local and regional network of collaborative projects that propose other possible ways of production and circulation of printing work.

Hollar “copia” Leonardo: l’uso della carta lucida per incisioni in scala 1:1

Hollar “copied” Leonardo: The use of ‘carta lucida’ for incisions on a 1:1 scaleHollar “copied” Leonardo for Lord Arundel and, as already demonstrated, in some cases he did it in real size (1:1). In this work process Hollar, following a technique already described by Cennino Cennino in his Book of Art, uses carta lucida: a sheet of paper made transparent through the use of oils that allows him to have an exact copy on the real size of any works of art. An example of this working process can be one drawing attributed to the Follower of Leonardo da Vinci now at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem (inv. A 5). It is an ink drawing on carta lucida with the copy in the real size of a man seen in profile, from the left side of a drawing of Leonardo with a couple of men represented en face (Windsor, RL 12490). The size of the male figure reproduced in Leonardo’s autograph, in the Harlem copy as well as in the Hollar’s engraving is always almost identical. A dimensional match that allows to formulate a new proposal for attribution and to include the Haarlem’s drawing in the corpus of Hollar’s drawings as an example of his workflow.

INSCRIBED FABRICS IN THE OZBEL COLLECTION

Apart from the use of inscribed arts directly in book arts; textile, architecture, stone carving, ceramics, glass works, leather works are used as an element of decoration in many handicrafts. Turkish fabrics with rich ornament motifs have an important place in the textiles due to their religious and political qualities. At the same time, the message in the other motifs can be make to the person's interpretation, while in the printed fabric this message is given directly. In the study, 4 textiles in the fabric collection of the Anatolian collector Prof. Dr. Kenan Ozbel will be discussed. The aim of the research is to examine four fabrics with self-patterned inscriptions on them. Scanning and description methods were applied in the research. In the first part of the study, information about inscribed fabrics were given. In the second part, the information about the width, weaving structure and raw materials of the four samples examined are presented in a table. In the conclusion part, a comparative evaluation of the samples in the Özbel collection were made with other written fabrics. Keywords: Written fabric, Kenan Ozbel, Beledi, Sevai

A Children’s Guide to Arctic Butterflies by M. Pelletier

Pelletier, Mia. A Children’s Guide to Arctic Butterflies. Iqaluit, NU.: Inhabit Media, 2019.
 This volume is part field guide and part art book. Like many field guides, it begins with general material about butterflies: distinguishing them from moths, describing their life cycle and how they survive in winter. The remainder of the book is made up of accounts for 12 different species. Each account has a genus species name, a physical description and a habitat description, and explanations of how they fly, what the caterpillar looks like, how they winter and a “fluttering fact.” Accompanying each account are two small images of the upper and lower side of the butterfly and a full-page image of the insect in its habitat.
 The descriptions are detailed and interesting. For example, Pelletier tells us that, “Arctic butterflies can dry out all of their body tissues and freeze solid, thawing in the spring when the Arctic warms again.” The real joy of this book, however, is Danny Christopher’s illustrations. Christopher will be familiar to Inhabit Media readers as the illustrator of the Legend of the Fog and A Children’s Guide to Arctic Birds. Each full page illustration is a larger-than-life picture of a butterfly, rendered in muted tones that are lifelike, and match the environment. Christopher has replicated the natural greens, oranges and blacks of the lichen on rock. A child seeing a butterfly in the North could easily use this book to identify it.
 This is an excellent contribution to Northern children’s wildlife books. Since some of the butterflies are circumpolar, this book is recommended for all Canadian school and public libraries and for those in other Arctic countries.
 Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Sandy Campbell 
 Sandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines. Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give.

Artists’ books in museums

ABSTRACT Although artists’ books have been consolidated as an art form in the twentieth century, and their place in library collections has come under the spotlight since the mid-1970s through a rich debate on the development and management of this typology of collections – showing the effort made by these institutions to keep up with the ever-increasing production of artists’ books since the mid-1960s – the discussion of the physical, symbolic an epistemological place of artists’ books in museum collections is still at an early stage. This paper, which falls within the intersection between artistic studies and museum studies, aims to enhance this discussion by identifying the contexts considered as essential to exploring and critically analysing the artist's book in the museum, presenting the Coleção de Livros e Edições de Artistas da Fundação de Serralves – Museu de Arte Contemporânea [Collection of Artists’ Books and Editions of the Serralves Foundation – Contemporary Art Museum], situated in Porto|Portugal as its case study.

Powielanie jako wędrówka. O książce z perspektywy twórcy obiektów unikatowych

The main objective of this paper is to present the artist's book as a medium, which finds a way to express things that can't, or shouldn't be put in words. The article puts forward the presence of this fairly new field of art in The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design, as well as my own artworks, created during postgraduate studies and later. These are both codices, and spatial or multimedia installations. The article discusses some bookbinding issues (such as binding with an exposed spine, sewing the headband, rounding the book), as well as the subject of a book mainly built from illustrations, and one that starts from them. The article also talks about places, events and artists, which were either an inspiration, or a context for beforementioned activities. These are: The International Festival of Ephemeral Art Contexts in Sokolowsko, The Book Art Museum in Łodź, and artists such as Alastair MacLennan, Anna Gilmore, Erin K. Schmidt, Lamiel.

Artist Books and Art Zines: Past and Present

The paper is a study of art zines, related ephemera and artist books as well as their historical and conceptual relevance in the study of art. The aim is to look into the precursors and influences to the same and how zines, especially art zine and artists’ books evolved to their contemporary state. Zines are magazine/ books like, though more content-specific, primarily self- published and are produced in limited editions. On the other hand, artists’ books can be self published or gallery/ patron sponsored with limited or sometimes no copies to maintain the exclusivity. The paper will look into similar examples from art history, before the contemporary terms were formulated, in order to understand their origin, conceptual and contextual relevance in the history of visual art.

Sanatsal Yaratım Ekseninde Bir Olanak: Tekstil Malzemeleri Takviyeli Kâğıt Yapılar

Kâğıt, başta kitap sanatları olmak üzere, sanatın hemen hemen tüm kollarında kullanılmaktadır. Fakat görülen odur ki; bu malzeme daha çok üzerinde çizgi, şekil, renk veya motif bulunan, bir ifadeyi ya da duyguyu ileten araç olarak kullanılmıştır. Kâğıdın kendisi sanatsal bir söylem olarak ele alındığında ise, bu çerçevenin daraldığı görülmektedir.Malzemeyi tasarlamak amaçlandığında; kağıdın içeriğine odaklanarak üretim aşamasından itibaren olanakları değerlendirme gereği duyulmuştur. Böylelikle, sanatsal ifade yöntemlerinin genişletebileceğini söylemek mümkündür. Bu noktadan hareketle ve çevreci bir hassasiyetle; ikincil liflerden oluşan kâğıt hamurunda, geri dönüşümden elde edilen tekstil liflerinin ve atıklarının kullanıldığı kompozit bir yapı oluşturulmuştur. Geleneksel malzemelerden farklı olarak, yenilikçi bir yaklaşımla deneysel bir çalışma yapılmıştır. Bu şekilde elde edilen reçete, kompozit üretim yöntemiyle birleştirilmiş ve kâğıdın biçimsel olarak da yorumu deneyimlenmiştir. Sanatsal söylem, bu yeni malzemenin ve kompozit üretimin sunduğu olanaklarla birleştirilerek Tılsımlı Gömlek formunda bir tasarıma dönüştürülmüştür. Tılsımlı gömleklerin özel işleme tabi tutularak kâğıt vasfı kazandırılmış kumaşlardan dikildiği bilinmektedir. Bu kumaşların özelliklerinden esinlenerek de, tekstil malzemeleri takviyeli kâğıt yapılar (kompozitler) oluşturulmuştur. Bu sayede özgün bir yaratım malzemesi olarak üretilen kompozitler, tezyinî sanatlarla bağdaştırılmış kavramsal bazı çıkarımlar içeren bir tasarımla sanatsal söyleme dönüştürülmüştür.

William Blake and His Circle: A Checklist of Scholarship in 2019

2019 was a very active year in Blake studies. In popular discussions, at least, it was dominated by the Tate Britain exhibition, William Blake, curated by Martin Myrone and Amy Concannon. The retrospective boasted over 300 works, making it by far the largest Blake exhibition of the twenty-first century. Its catalogue, which was named one of the twenty-six most beautiful art books of 2019 by the New York Times, articulates the exhibition’s “determinedly historicist and materialist” approach and includes an afterword by Alan Moore, reflecting on Blakean places and his graphic novel From Hell.

Brotherman, Family, and Legacies: Recognizing the Contributions of African American Independent Comic Book Writers and Artists

African Americans produced many comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels during the twentieth century but their works were rarely recognized in reviews of mainstream and independently published comics until recently. These efforts to acknowledge Black comics creatives and their contributions to the industry must continue. This article participates in the ongoing effort to capture and share the experiences of African American creatives in the independent comic book publishing industry by placing a spotlight on the author and co-creator of the Brotherman: Dictator of Discipline (1990–1996) comic book series, Guy A. Sims. The Brotherman brand is part of a long legacy of inspirational media from independent Black producers. Guy’s early experiences provided him with tangible examples of successful Black-owned media companies that were creating content for Black audiences. His most important influence was his father, Dr. Edward Sims, Jr. Edward introduced young Guy to the works of Richard Wright for inspiration. He also engaged his son in questions that further inspired his creativity. Brotherman now serves as a source of inspiration to multiple generations of new comic book artists and writers.

Textbooks illustration features for junior schoolchildren in the establishment of state independence of Ukraine period (1990–2000)

The article considers the peculiarities of illustrating school textbooks for primary schools ofUkraine, published in 1990-2000 inthe second half of the twentieth century in the context of reforming the national school system, development school textbook theory and the art of book graphics.Illustrative material of a number of outlined textbooks is analyzed period according to didactic, hygienic and artistic and aesthetic criteria and corresponding quality indicators of this structural component textbook. The main trends in illustrating publications for junior schoolchildren during the period of state independence ofUkraine. The relevance of taking into account positive ideas in illustration is argued educational publications of 1990–2000 in the process of creating a visual series for textbooks in the future.

Examining the life-cycle artistic productivity of latin american photographers: álvarez bravo, larraín, and salgado

The paper examines the life-cycle artistic productivity of three leading Latin American photographers of the twentieth century: Manuel Álvarez Bravo (Mexico), Sergio Larraín (Chile), and Sebastião Salgado (Brazil). The analysis constructs narratives using art books and other sources of expert commentary, following the approach in earlier contributions to the economics literature on the subject [David W. Galenson, 2007, Old masters and young geniuses: The two life cycles of artistic creativity, Princeton University Press]. The research identifies Manuel Álvarez Bravo as a ‘conceptual innovator’, a feature that caught the French surrealists’ attention early in his career. In contrast, Sergio Larraín and Sebastião Salgado accomplish their contributions to photography like ‘experimental innovators’. The investigation assembles and evaluates metrics from museum holdings and selected retrospectives to gauge the robustness of the conclusions emerging from the benchmark narratives. The results can be useful from the academic and public policy viewpoints: a better understanding of life-cycle artistic productivity can inform deliberations on the allocation of public funding for creative industries.