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Four Times Through The Labyrinth
This book on labyrinths is wonderful! It enlarges the traditional catalog
- GenresArtNonfictionPhilosophy
320 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 6, 2015
There are many reasons why I picked this book up at the recent Los Angeles Art Book Fair (at the RAM booth). One, is that I just finished a major piece of writing for myself that deals with a journal with illustrations, and this book gave me some inspiration for that production, two, the subject of labyrinth's are interesting to me. The puzzle within a puzzle, or roads or streets that lead both nowhere and somewhere. Also the concept of a "camp" and how that can mean different things - it really depends on the political and cultural landscape.
If their is a main character or figure in this series of four lectures (with each page illustrated, and sort of like a book version of a slide-show) it would be the Minotaur. Half-man and Half-bull. Confined in Crete in a labyrinth made by Daedalus and fed on human flesh, it was later killed by Theseus. This is all, a springboard to thoughts on the nature of a city, and how confining the space is, as well as the nature of the maze. A fascinating subject matter, and i love how this book puts together the complicated and sometimes disturbing aspects of a maze or labyrinth. Also it covers a lot of ground - Situationists to current politics of war. There are a lot of highlights in the book for me - the Situationist connection, but also the nature of camps and what it means in our world. The most disturbing part of the book is when it talks about Israel's fake "camp" or city, where their army practices warfare.
This may not be the easiest book to find, but locate RAM, the distributor of this book and other fine books on the arts and theory.
If their is a main character or figure in this series of four lectures (with each page illustrated, and sort of like a book version of a slide-show) it would be the Minotaur. Half-man and Half-bull. Confined in Crete in a labyrinth made by Daedalus and fed on human flesh, it was later killed by Theseus. This is all, a springboard to thoughts on the nature of a city, and how confining the space is, as well as the nature of the maze. A fascinating subject matter, and i love how this book puts together the complicated and sometimes disturbing aspects of a maze or labyrinth. Also it covers a lot of ground - Situationists to current politics of war. There are a lot of highlights in the book for me - the Situationist connection, but also the nature of camps and what it means in our world. The most disturbing part of the book is when it talks about Israel's fake "camp" or city, where their army practices warfare.
This may not be the easiest book to find, but locate RAM, the distributor of this book and other fine books on the arts and theory.
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June 17, 2024After reading Neuroplasticity by Moheb Costandi and Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse, I decided to read this book. The back cover of Four Times Through the Labyrinths includes the following questions:
1.) "Does one's sense of direction improve, the more one knows? Or is it even harder to find the way when one knows how easy it is to get lost?" This reminded me of Costandi's explanation of a cab driver's training and the resultant increased grey matter density of their hippocampus. As one learns to navigate their city, however, it becomes more difficult to acquire different spatial knowledge… "This comes at a price, however-qualified London taxi drivers appear to be worse at acquiring new visuospatial information than others…" (Neuroplasticity p.95)
2.) "How does the labyrinth make us so ready and willing to play its games?" This reminded me of the inevitability of finite play as described by Carse in Finite and Infinite Games. Finite play can occur within infinite play, however, it is possible to lose sight of one's infinite play when overcome by finite aspirations. Here are a couple of quotes from this book, Four Times Through the Labyrinth, that I think readers of Finite and Infinite Games may enjoy:
"To go for goal or linger on the way - one must constantly decide between these options or pursue a mixture of them in line with the form of the labyrinth." (p.210)
"In 'Man, Play, and Games', Roger Caillois writes that although we enter into games voluntarily, the particular choices we then make are determined by the nature of our thoughts about the ways in which our decisions are affected by internal impulses and external forces - ways of thinking that govern how we play. So the games we enjoy suit the ways in which we think. We put this principle to work; we externalize and control it to the extent that we control the game. But a game also grips us: we play, and are played by the game as well." (p.148-149)
Additional Notes:
The first section, Urban Life/Migration, describes Jan Pieper's interpretation of the myth of the labyrinth and minotaur as the Greeks' reaction to the stone cities, especially Knossos, found on the island of Crete. These Minoan cities… p.46 p.50
Dancing p. 18 - The crane dance depicted on Achille's shield (and other sources) suggests that exiting the labyrinth may have been achieved through dance. Similarly, I believe dancing is the ultimate form of people experiencing and co-producing space. Dance as mind/body coordination. Dance as space-making. Dancers feel the spaces they inhabit through their grace, power, and confidence.
As a city is constructed, materials are extracted from the earth and utilities are tunneled thus creating an excavated, undermined network. During the eighteenth century, entire streets in Paris collapsed due to such material extraction (p.57) The catacombs were the result of overflowing cemeteries (p. 58)
The second section, Game/Control,
Dancing in the church (gothic churches had labyrinthine patterns in their Nave floors) and dance denied (these flooring patterns were later demo'd) and dance as play (demo'd largely because kids played on them and this was a distraction) p.109-112
It was not until the Renaissance, and Giovanni Fontana, that mazes veered from their unicursal bent and started incorporating alternative routes and dead ends. p.119-121
With this advancement, Labyrinths could also be considered the act of decision-making when there is an abundance of choice options p.124
The third section, Orientation/Disorientation, asks "Why did Theseus need Ariadne's thread to extricate himself from the labyrinth? Did it grow more complex the longer he was there?"
"Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz coined the term 'relational order-space to define such spaces in terms of the relationships between the things it contains…" p.179 I believe there should be a hybrid planning strategy that includes ordered boulevards and option scenic routes for play and discovery within the zones bounded by the boulevards.
The dérive of the situationists.
p.192-97 failure of Halle-Neustadt to assign numbers to buildings.
p.211 "the material precondition for a playful atmosphere [a layout that offers a sense of disorientation], in which people's movements are determined neither by the ways in which the space is planned nor by the rhythms of the day." Pynchon "feet will find steps that are their own against the day and its demands." (Mason and Dixon)
p.224 Michel de Certeau's comments regarding high vantage points "This elevation turns one into a voyeur, puts on at a distance. The world which had held one bewitched and 'possessed' is spread out like a text before one's eyes, to be read as though by a solar eye or the gaze of God. The elation of a scopic, gnostic, impulse: to be nothing but this pure viewpoint - this is the fiction of knowledge."
The fourth section, Garden/Camp, describes Daedalus' labyrinth as one of Michel Foucault's "heterotopia, a place beyond all others, the flip-side of society." It thus "gave evil a location." Because of this, the minotaur which "was destined to neither life nor death" became a target. It further masked the unknown compounding the fear caused by the unknown. p.249 The essay goes on to discuss the entanglement of biological and mechanical systems. I figured there would be a discussion of bio-engineering/biofabrication but it didn't which is probably for the best because this connection to the myth seems like a stretch. Instead it focuses on AI and brings up Claude Shannon (he is mentioned elsewhere in the book), instrumental to information theory, and his inventions such as the Mind Reading Machine and Theseus Mouse.
p.283 Camps take two forms: training camps and camps of exclusion. "To banish the living or maximize its potential - the parallels between labyrinth and camp come down to this simple formula. Both exclusion and education are technologies designed to secure the state…" (p.286)
p.291 Israels army training site "Chicago"
1.) "Does one's sense of direction improve, the more one knows? Or is it even harder to find the way when one knows how easy it is to get lost?" This reminded me of Costandi's explanation of a cab driver's training and the resultant increased grey matter density of their hippocampus. As one learns to navigate their city, however, it becomes more difficult to acquire different spatial knowledge… "This comes at a price, however-qualified London taxi drivers appear to be worse at acquiring new visuospatial information than others…" (Neuroplasticity p.95)
2.) "How does the labyrinth make us so ready and willing to play its games?" This reminded me of the inevitability of finite play as described by Carse in Finite and Infinite Games. Finite play can occur within infinite play, however, it is possible to lose sight of one's infinite play when overcome by finite aspirations. Here are a couple of quotes from this book, Four Times Through the Labyrinth, that I think readers of Finite and Infinite Games may enjoy:
"To go for goal or linger on the way - one must constantly decide between these options or pursue a mixture of them in line with the form of the labyrinth." (p.210)
"In 'Man, Play, and Games', Roger Caillois writes that although we enter into games voluntarily, the particular choices we then make are determined by the nature of our thoughts about the ways in which our decisions are affected by internal impulses and external forces - ways of thinking that govern how we play. So the games we enjoy suit the ways in which we think. We put this principle to work; we externalize and control it to the extent that we control the game. But a game also grips us: we play, and are played by the game as well." (p.148-149)
Additional Notes:
The first section, Urban Life/Migration, describes Jan Pieper's interpretation of the myth of the labyrinth and minotaur as the Greeks' reaction to the stone cities, especially Knossos, found on the island of Crete. These Minoan cities… p.46 p.50
Dancing p. 18 - The crane dance depicted on Achille's shield (and other sources) suggests that exiting the labyrinth may have been achieved through dance. Similarly, I believe dancing is the ultimate form of people experiencing and co-producing space. Dance as mind/body coordination. Dance as space-making. Dancers feel the spaces they inhabit through their grace, power, and confidence.
As a city is constructed, materials are extracted from the earth and utilities are tunneled thus creating an excavated, undermined network. During the eighteenth century, entire streets in Paris collapsed due to such material extraction (p.57) The catacombs were the result of overflowing cemeteries (p. 58)
The second section, Game/Control,
Dancing in the church (gothic churches had labyrinthine patterns in their Nave floors) and dance denied (these flooring patterns were later demo'd) and dance as play (demo'd largely because kids played on them and this was a distraction) p.109-112
It was not until the Renaissance, and Giovanni Fontana, that mazes veered from their unicursal bent and started incorporating alternative routes and dead ends. p.119-121
With this advancement, Labyrinths could also be considered the act of decision-making when there is an abundance of choice options p.124
The third section, Orientation/Disorientation, asks "Why did Theseus need Ariadne's thread to extricate himself from the labyrinth? Did it grow more complex the longer he was there?"
"Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz coined the term 'relational order-space to define such spaces in terms of the relationships between the things it contains…" p.179 I believe there should be a hybrid planning strategy that includes ordered boulevards and option scenic routes for play and discovery within the zones bounded by the boulevards.
The dérive of the situationists.
p.192-97 failure of Halle-Neustadt to assign numbers to buildings.
p.211 "the material precondition for a playful atmosphere [a layout that offers a sense of disorientation], in which people's movements are determined neither by the ways in which the space is planned nor by the rhythms of the day." Pynchon "feet will find steps that are their own against the day and its demands." (Mason and Dixon)
p.224 Michel de Certeau's comments regarding high vantage points "This elevation turns one into a voyeur, puts on at a distance. The world which had held one bewitched and 'possessed' is spread out like a text before one's eyes, to be read as though by a solar eye or the gaze of God. The elation of a scopic, gnostic, impulse: to be nothing but this pure viewpoint - this is the fiction of knowledge."
The fourth section, Garden/Camp, describes Daedalus' labyrinth as one of Michel Foucault's "heterotopia, a place beyond all others, the flip-side of society." It thus "gave evil a location." Because of this, the minotaur which "was destined to neither life nor death" became a target. It further masked the unknown compounding the fear caused by the unknown. p.249 The essay goes on to discuss the entanglement of biological and mechanical systems. I figured there would be a discussion of bio-engineering/biofabrication but it didn't which is probably for the best because this connection to the myth seems like a stretch. Instead it focuses on AI and brings up Claude Shannon (he is mentioned elsewhere in the book), instrumental to information theory, and his inventions such as the Mind Reading Machine and Theseus Mouse.
p.283 Camps take two forms: training camps and camps of exclusion. "To banish the living or maximize its potential - the parallels between labyrinth and camp come down to this simple formula. Both exclusion and education are technologies designed to secure the state…" (p.286)
p.291 Israels army training site "Chicago"
May 16, 2022
vaya pasada... no me suelen gustar los libros que son adaptaciones de charlas pero este está ejecutado con un ritmo y dirección claros, concisos y casi perfectos. he disfrutado mucho con la manera que tienen de hilar los autores sobre el tema que presentan con cada vez más y más referencias sin que resulte ni una pizca de abrumador. una lectura muy disfrutada. que gusto leer libros buenos
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February 19, 2025Very good book, very interesting, I recommend.
March 1, 2019
Om nog honderd keer te lezen en dan steeds weer iets nieuws te vinden
November 14, 2024
this is a marvel. incredibly astute and so well translated from performance to page
December 30, 2018
Spector Books are an amazing imprint that in their own words focuses on a combination of "art, theory, and design". In some ways, this comes off as how IKEA would design a book--and I don't mean this as a pejorative.
These are basically meandering (heh) essays on urban life in cities, games theory, disorientation, etc.
It's not ultimatley a sublime experience, but a well-curated one.
These are basically meandering (heh) essays on urban life in cities, games theory, disorientation, etc.
It's not ultimatley a sublime experience, but a well-curated one.
November 11, 2023
An excellent example of subtly creative bookmaking practices. In a way, pages are formatted like a PowerPoint, with images above and brief snippets of text below. I think this really helps create flow and pacing where many overly academic works fail to allow breathing room for readers. What could otherwise be a very inaccessible text becomes both a reflection and elaboration of the image and vice versa. Shoutout to this book for introducing me to the artist Carlfriedrich Claus. His drawings are so amazing and frenetic !!!
The book is divided into four sections: Urban Life/Migration, Game/Control, Orientation/Disorientation, Garden/Camp. I was particularly interested in the sections about urban planning and design and I feel like reading this book makes me look differently at cities. There’s so much infrastructure in my life that I interact with really passively and so I don’t often stop to reflect on the way I’m philosophically and psychologically affected by transport etc, but it’s something I’m thinking about more and more as I continue to live in cities and develop different relationships with transit and neighborhoods through work, school, travel, accessing food and healthcare and all those other things that life creates use for in the metropolis. Also super interesting to consider the story of the Minotaur and the proliferation of imagery depicting his death by Theseus, as an early reaction to man’s anxieties about hybridization and intersections between man and technology.
I really liked the idea that the labyrinth could be about making choices even when their consequences are still unknown. It makes me feel a little braver to frame life and decision-making in this way. As someone who tends toward anxiety, to believe that we are all equally blind in our journey of the labyrinth makes me feel hopeful to continue onward, regardless of my destination, partly through of the hopes I carry for my loved ones :D
The imagery is very well-sourced and versatile and I have even ended up using one of the images and some text from this book for an etching I’m still developing. I have also been kind of obsessed with labyrinth imagery for the past month. For better or for worse, Pinterest emails me every day saying: “Labyrinths” and 8 other boards you might like! To be exposed to this writing and imagery makes me believe in the ubiquity of the labyrinth!
The book is divided into four sections: Urban Life/Migration, Game/Control, Orientation/Disorientation, Garden/Camp. I was particularly interested in the sections about urban planning and design and I feel like reading this book makes me look differently at cities. There’s so much infrastructure in my life that I interact with really passively and so I don’t often stop to reflect on the way I’m philosophically and psychologically affected by transport etc, but it’s something I’m thinking about more and more as I continue to live in cities and develop different relationships with transit and neighborhoods through work, school, travel, accessing food and healthcare and all those other things that life creates use for in the metropolis. Also super interesting to consider the story of the Minotaur and the proliferation of imagery depicting his death by Theseus, as an early reaction to man’s anxieties about hybridization and intersections between man and technology.
I really liked the idea that the labyrinth could be about making choices even when their consequences are still unknown. It makes me feel a little braver to frame life and decision-making in this way. As someone who tends toward anxiety, to believe that we are all equally blind in our journey of the labyrinth makes me feel hopeful to continue onward, regardless of my destination, partly through of the hopes I carry for my loved ones :D
The imagery is very well-sourced and versatile and I have even ended up using one of the images and some text from this book for an etching I’m still developing. I have also been kind of obsessed with labyrinth imagery for the past month. For better or for worse, Pinterest emails me every day saying: “Labyrinths” and 8 other boards you might like! To be exposed to this writing and imagery makes me believe in the ubiquity of the labyrinth!
February 22, 2018
What an interesting format for a book. From what I understand it was loosely transcribed from a set of 4 lectures. Each page has an image followed by a short text, as if you were watching slides during a talk or presentation.
It was a lovely read that had me marking pages and jotting down quotes and ideas to explore. Great book.
It was a lovely read that had me marking pages and jotting down quotes and ideas to explore. Great book.
July 6, 2025
Reading this book felt like attending the most interesting lecture of my life. Every visual and every reference were artfully assembled to create such an interesting presentation; I was floored (in a good way) by the juxtaposition between the art and text alone on some pages.
Can't wait to think about this for the next decade of my life.
(pairs well with Westworld season one)
Can't wait to think about this for the next decade of my life.
(pairs well with Westworld season one)
November 8, 2024
nettes konzept, ein powerpoint vortrag zum lesen. geht schnell, aber viel mehr als die geschichte von theseus und minotaurus (wie krank eigentlich), blieb dann nicht hängen. vielleicht noch kevin lynch, sollte man dann vielleicht doch auch mal lesen.
September 9, 2018
This is a collection of four essays on the subject of the labyrinth with different approaches to it's meaning, attributions and connotations. I really enjoyed reading this book.
November 4, 2018
highly engrossing and engaging, imaginative
September 12, 2024
This was just a history book also what was the order?….. a labyrinth perhaps
September 13, 2024
cool ideas, but not convincingly elaborated. novelty and cuteness in place of intellectual rigor and depth
Fun format for a book, though
Fun format for a book, though
December 7, 2025
una frikada que he disfrutado muchísimo... admito que no es para todo el mundo pero la manera de adaptar la charla a formato libro: chef kiss
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