This was another one of those esoteric books I picked up on a whim from the "new books" shelf at the library. Really, I was just curious to finally fiThis was another one of those esoteric books I picked up on a whim from the "new books" shelf at the library. Really, I was just curious to finally find out exactly what that cryptic term "Steampunk" means. To my delight, as well as being an artsy how-to book, this actually is a sort of primer to Steampunk. There's an introduction explaining the term at the beginning, and short chapters interspersed between the jewelry projects explore different aspects of Steampunk style and history.
The jewelry itself is quirky, creative, and often beautiful. Most of it looks like it could belong on the set of the movie The Golden Compass. This book is worth a read, even if only for the sake of cultural literacy. But for a brief moment as I read it, I actually considered converting my entire wardrobe to Steampunk....more
This was a fascinating, unusual book, and my first by Camille Paglia. In a relatively small, slim volume, she takes the reader on a sweeping tour of tThis was a fascinating, unusual book, and my first by Camille Paglia. In a relatively small, slim volume, she takes the reader on a sweeping tour of the history of Western art. Each chapter contains a photograph of a piece of art, and then a short essay. Although I diverged with Paglia in some of her opinions, her insights were invariably illuminating. I really loved that she devoted an unusually large portion of the book to more modern art, and most of the modern pieces she used were new to me. I will admit that I initially picked up this book for its titular promise to treat Star Wars as serious art, and yes, I was tempted to turn to the end and read the Star Wars essay first. I didn't, and I'm glad I read the rest of the book first to give me context, because the Star Wars essay was great, and I think I understood it better than I would have if I'd just flipped to the end and read it. This book is totally worth a read, whether you're interested in Star Wars or art or both....more
Sarah Bringhurst
>
Books:
art
(3)
Loading...
