The latest in the best-selling Isms series—which includes Isms: Understanding Art, Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles, Isms: Understanding Fashion, and Isms: Understanding Religion—is Film...Isms: Understanding Cinema. This engaging guide sorts the great classic films and directors according to the significant “isms” that have shaped the development of cinema. Beginning with the early classics of the silent era, the book spans the entire range of cinematic history from the golden age of Hollywood and the French New Wave to the present-day rise of Asian Minimalism. Each spread is devoted to a distinct movement in film history and explains when it first emerged, the historical period to which it applies, and the principal directors and representative films, and illustrates important masterpieces, actors, key words, and distinctive features. Also highlighted are the important achievements in film in the world’s main filmmaking nations, as well as the careers of international auteurs such as Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, and Pedro Almodóvar. From prewar Expressionism and Screwballism to twenty-first century Teenagism and Dystopianism, with many stops along the way, these wellillustrated and clearly defined “isms” help put all of cinema history into context
The perfect small-format, one-stop resource to appreciating and understanding films from Hollywood to Bollywood. Following the success of Isms: Understanding Art and Isms: Understanding Architectural Styles, this guide sorts the great classic films and directors according to the significant movements that have shaped the development of cinema. Beginning with the early silent era, it spans the entire range of movie history up to the present wave of indie films and the growing fascination with international cinema. Each spread is devoted to a distinct movement and explains when it first emerged, the principal directors, themes, and representative films, and is illustrated with film stills, posters, and photos. Important international cinematic breakthroughs are also highlighted, as well as the careers of international auteurs like Kurosawa, Fellini, and Almodóvar. From prewar Expressionism to twenty-first-century Dystopianism, Film Isms… offers an engaging, new way of understanding movie history.
Understanding Photography packs an enormous amount of detail into a handy, attractive guide tracing the evolution of photography through a series of interconnected trends, groups, themes and movements – from the invention of the photographic process to the post-internet age. Organised chronologically, this is a uniquely international, comprehensive guide to photography with concise, readable and jargon-free but scholarly insight into major photographers, movements and themes of the past 170 years. In an age where photography is of more resonance and interest than ever before, Understanding Photography offers an in-depth and clear exposition of photography for the interested general reader or student.
Following the success of Isms: Understanding Art, this engaging and informative guide to the significant "isms" of architectural history spans from the ancient Greeks, Romans, and the Renaissance up to the present day. Each spread is devoted to a distinct architectural movement and explains when it first emerged, the historical period to which it applies, the principal disputes over its applicability, and illustrates important structures, practitioners, key words, and distinctive features. From Hellenic Classicism and Expressionism to Brutalism and Blobism, with many stops along the way, these sixty well illustrated and clearly defined "isms" help put all of the "built environments" of the world into context.
The quotable Ai Weiwei This collection of quotes demonstrates the elegant simplicity of Ai Weiwei's thoughts on key aspects of his art, politics, and life. A master at communicating powerful ideas in astonishingly few words, Ai Weiwei is known for his innovative use of social media to disseminate his views. The short quotations presented here have been carefully selected from articles, tweets, and interviews given by this acclaimed Chinese artist and activist. The book is organized into six categories: freedom of expression; art and activism; government, power, and moral choices; the digital world; history, the historical moment, and the future; and personal reflections. Together, these quotes span some of the most revealing moments of Ai Weiwei's eventful career—from his risky investigation into student deaths in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake to his arbitrary arrest in 2011—providing a window into the mind of one of the world's most electrifying and courageous contemporary artists. Select Quotes from the Book: On Freedom of Expression "Say what you need to say plainly, and then take responsibility for it." "A small act is worth a million thoughts." "Liberty is about our rights to question everything." On Art and Activism "Everything is art. Everything is politics." "The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay." "Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don't feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy." On Government, Power, and Making Moral Choice "Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country." "I feel powerless all the time, but I regain my energy by making a very small difference that won't cost me much." "Tips on surviving the regime: Respect yourself and speak for others. Do one small thing every day to prove the existence of justice." On the Digital World "Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what's on his mind. A fairy tale has come true." "The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that." "The Internet is the best thing that could have happened to China." On History, the Historical Moment, and the Future "If a nation cannot face its past, it has no future." "We need to get out of the old language." "The world is a sphere, there is no East or West." Personal Reflection "I've never planned any part of my career—except being an artist. And I was pushed into that corner because I thought being an artist was the only way to have a little freedom." "Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom." "Expressing oneself is like a drug. I'm so addicted to it."
Isms: Understanding Art is the perfect pocket-sized guide for gallery and museum lovers who have a general interest in the arts, but not necessarily any formal education in the visual arts.
Traces the evolution of costume history and fashion through a series of interconnected trends and movements (a.k.a. "isms") from the Greco-Roman toga and the antebellum hoop skirt to the latest from the runway.
Have you ever wondered about the difference between Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism and which influenced the other? Do you know where Post-modernism stops and Post-structuralism begins? Would you like to? From Platonism to New Historicism, humankind is constantly coming up with fresh schools of thought to help explain (or at least describe) the mysterious world around us. Here is the ultimate guide to over 450 of the most significant intellectual terms, movements, and religions that help shape the society we live in. Simply, concisely, and with personality, ‘Isms and ‘Ologies clarifies buzz terms like jihad, often defined as “holy war” but which literally means “striving” ;and illustrates the differences between Conservatism, Paleoconservatism, and Neoconservatism. It explains String Theory (which attempts to unify Quantum Mechanics and Einsteinian Relativity); describes Fauvism (an artistic movement that paved the way for Expressionism and Cubism); defines Locofocoism (an American political ideology named after a “self-lighting cigar)”; and identifies and explores so much more. Helpfully divided into categories–including politics, history, philosophy and the arts, economics, religion, science, and medicine–cross referenced, and thoroughly indexed, ‘Isms and ‘Ologies is a must have for the budding intellectual in everyone.
The work of renowned contemporary artist Daniel Arsham blurs the lines between art, architecture, archeology, and design. In his distinctive style, he takes ancient art works and objects from twentieth-century pop culture and casts sculptures of them in geological materials such as quartz or volcanic ash, colliding past, present, and future in haunted yet playful visions that prompt viewers to question their everyday surroundings. Gathered from interviews and other sources, Arsham-isms is a collection of lively, thought-provoking, and memorable quotations from this exciting young creative talent on a wide range of subjects-including art, architecture, film, design, pop culture, the art world, and what it means to be a globally recognized artist today.
What's the difference between an anarchist and an anarcho-syndicalist, a Platonist and a Neo-Platonist? And how modern can Modernism really be if all the famous modernists are dead? To those who've been humiliated by a knowing reference to Wahhabism at a dinner party, caught short by a casual allusion to Orphism at a private view, or flummoxed by a smug mention of post-structuralism by a fellow member of a suburban book group, Isms and Ologies offers hope and enlightenment. Crackpot convictions, perplexing philosophies, tricky tenets, and wacky Weltanschauungs - Isms and Ologies lists them all, and explains their salient features clearly and accessibly. So, if you're genuinely curious to know the crucial characteristics of phenomenology or just want to lend a veneer of intellectual rigour to your small talk, Isms and Ologies could be just the book you are looking for.
