Whale

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Adam Dodd

"From ancient Egyptian deities to German automobiles, beetles have left an indelible mark on human cultures around the world. Comprising more than 350,000 species, beetles are among the most prolific animals on Earth, even if we rarely give them a second thought. In this book Adam Dodd explores the world of the beetle and its sometimes astounding and bizarre intersections with the world of the human being. Beetle relates this resilient insect's emergence from the 'Great Dying' extinction event some 250 million years ago, showing how it became a permanent fixture in the natural world, thriving in the inhabitation of niches. Inspiring early occult beliefs and religious myths, the beetle also finds its way into art, folklore, literature and science. Dodd uncovers the beetle's ongoing place in the aesthetic appreciation of nature, and shows how knowledge of beetle anatomy is assisting the development of cutting-edge cybernetics, blurring the boundary between science and fiction.--"Provided by publisher.

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curated by Barbara Fischer

This is a unique book. It is not an exhibition catalogue, nor is it an artist's book. It is a sustained, multi-faceted exploration of a single work of art by Rebecca Belmore, 'March 5, 1819'. In this extraordinary video installation, Belmore looks back two centuries to revisit a devastating encounter in Beothuk territory, in the central interior of the island of Newfoundland.

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Clare Painter

"This book presents a rich naturalistic case study of one child's use of language from two-and-a-half to five years, drawing on systemic functional theory to argue that cognitive development is essentially a linguistic process and offering a new description and interpretation of linguistic and cognitive developments during this period."--Jacket.

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Pierre-Damien Huyghe

Comment la photographie et le cinéma, qui donnent de l'image, peuvent-ils être des arts contemporains de l'abstraction ? Comment la peinture est-elle devenue, comme le disait Kandinsky, un art voué à se passer de l'objet ? Nous ne pourrons pas traiter ces questions sans déceler dans l'histoire de l'art et de la pensée le poids des récurrences. En ceci au moins notre art n'est pas différent de la Renaissance : il ne se distingue pas sans rappel, il se comprend dans une pesée de traditions. L'enjeu, c'est l'ingénierie et l'industrie qui peuvent habiter l'image et que l'image peut installer dans la perception. L'art exige-t-il une autre méthode comme on l'a souvent dit depuis Baudelaire ? Sous cette interrogation se rappelle l'antique avertissement dont l'art a fait son affaire : la moindre des oeuvres implique une problématique de la responsabilité du monde. Cette responsabilité se manifeste aux esprits dans la facture de l'oeuvre, en deçà de toute finition.