Archive for the 'Newsletter' Category

At Large: Reviewing the Arts in South Africa

Published on January 24, 2012 in Book, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments

At Large: Reviewing the Arts in South Africa by Christopher Thurman is now available as part of  The Arts in Society series.

As a ‘critic at large’, Chris Thurman has engaged with the work of theatre practitioners, musicians, dancers, visual artists and writers from across the South African arts spectrum. In this collection of journalistic essays, reviews and interviews produced over the course of five years, he not only explores the role of the arts – and the challenges facing artists – in a country still completing its transition to democracy, but also asks provocative questions about a range of social and political issues. Informed by an awareness of South Africa’s complex cultural history/histories, At Large offers a snapshot (or, rather, a series of snapshots) of the arts in the country during the early years of the twenty-first century, providing insight into the production and reception of both ‘local’ and ‘global’ artistic phenomena.

Chris Thurman teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) and contributes to various publications as arts critic, political commentator and travel writer. His other books are Sport versus Art: A South African Contest, Guy Butler: Reassessing a South African Literary Life and Text Bites: South African Poems, Plays, Stories and Non-fiction.

Arts Journal, Volume 6, Issue 4 now available

Published on January 18, 2012 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

arts_frontThe fourth issue of Volume 6 of The International Journal of the Arts in Society is available.

Volume 6, Issue 4 contains:

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Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education

Published on January 16, 2012 in Book and Newsletter. 0 Comments

Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education by Howard Cannatella is now available as part of  The Arts in Society series.

Where would we be without the movements that corroborate our feelings and desires and make a practical difference in our lives? In a timely fashion, this book challenges our understanding of craft activity. Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education reads as a social critique that champions the culture and relevance of this practice in a refreshing way. A redefined account of craft activity is given, while different positions are postulated as to its role. This book asserts that the teaching, professional practice, and policy making of craft activity needs to change in order to benefit society in a more constructive manner. Far from being just an adjunct to production requirements and a slave to economic conceptions of life, the theory, history, and contemporary practice of craft activity can be utilized considerately to create a better environment for us all. The delights, hard hitting conceptions, foibles, and intelligence of craft work are debated. This discourse argues that craft activity is vital for living well and is a voice of freedom, common observation, collective effort, and reason that can affect our social cohesion, sympathetic unity, independence, and passions in life.

Dr Howard Cannatella is a teacher and philosopher in art education and a practising artist and designer. He lives in British Columbia, Canada with his wife Kirsten and their three children

Finalists for the International Award for Excellence

Published on December 30, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

arts_frontCongratulations to all of the finalists for the International Award for Excellence in the area of the arts:

Arts Journal, Volume 6, Issue 3 now available

Published on December 28, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

arts_frontThe third issue of Volume 6 of The International Journal of the Arts in Society is available.

Volume 6, Issue 3 contains:

Continue reading ‘Arts Journal, Volume 6, Issue 3 now available’

Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education

Published on December 16, 2011 in Book, Headline and Newsletter. 0 Comments

 

Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education by Howard Cannatella is now available as part of  The Arts in Society series.

Where would we be without the movements that corroborate our feelings and desires and make a practical difference in our lives? In a timely fashion, this book challenges our understanding of craft activity. Creating a Better Place to Live: The Argument for Craft Education reads as a social critique that champions the culture and relevance of this practice in a refreshing way. A redefined account of craft activity is given, while different positions are postulated as to its role. This book asserts that the teaching, professional practice, and policy making of craft activity needs to change in order to benefit society in a more constructive manner. Far from being just an adjunct to production requirements and a slave to economic conceptions of life, the theory, history, and contemporary practice of craft activity can be utilized considerately to create a better environment for us all. The delights, hard hitting conceptions, foibles, and intelligence of craft work are debated. This discourse argues that craft activity is vital for living well and is a voice of freedom, common observation, collective effort, and reason that can affect our social cohesion, sympathetic unity, independence, and passions in life.

Dr Howard Cannatella is a teacher and philosopher in art education and a practising artist and designer. He lives in British Columbia, Canada with his wife Kirsten and their three children

Art and the Limits of Neuroscience

Published on December 12, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

(Credit: Leif Parsons)

 

From Alva Noë at The New York Times, The Opinion Pages…

What is art? What does art reveal about human nature? The trend these days is to approach such questions in the key of neuroscience.

“Neuroaesthetics” is a term that has been coined to refer to the project of studying art using the methods of neuroscience. It would be fair to say that neuroaesthetics has become a hot field. It is not unusual for leading scientists and distinguished theorists of art to collaborate on papers that find their way into top scientific journals.

Semir Zeki, a neuroscientist at University College London, likes to say that art is governed by the laws of the brain. It is brains, he says, that see art and it is brains that make art. Champions of the new brain-based approach to art sometimes think of themselves as fighting a battle with scholars in the humanities who may lack the courage (in the words of the art historian John Onians) to acknowledge the ways in which biology constrains cultural activity. Strikingly, it hasn’t been much of a battle. Students of culture, like so many of us, seem all too glad to join in the general enthusiasm for neural approaches to just about everything. More…

 

Scottish Artist Martin Boyce Wins Turner Prize

Published on December 8, 2011 in News and Newsletter. 0 Comments

(Nigel Roddis/Reuters)

From Carol Vogel at The New York Times…

Martin Boyce, an artist known for creating sculptural installations that pay homage to Modernist design, has won this year’s prestigious Turner Prize. The winning entry from Mr. Boyce, 44, was an installation that looks like both an interior space and a municipal park, with trees crafted of geometric aluminum leaves along with a desk, based on a library table by the French modernist designer Jean Prouvé. The desk has letters scratched into its surface, as though they were the carvings of a naughty school child.

Mr. Boyce beat out the installation sculptor Karla Black, the video artist Hilary Lloyd and the painter George Shaw. The five-person jury, led by Penelope Curtis, director of Tate Britain, said “his work uses his knowledge of historic design to create distinctive sculptural installations.’’ The prize, which was established in 1984 and named after the 19th-century landscape painter J.M.W. Turner, is given annually to a British artist under 50 for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work in the 12 months before April 4, 2011. The winner gets £25,000 (about $39,000). Previous winners have included Damien Hirst, Grayson Perry and Mark Wallinger. More…

Arts Journal, Volume 6, Issue 2 now available

Published on December 7, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

arts_frontThe second issue of Volume 6 of The International Journal of the Arts in Society is available.

Volume 6, Issue 2 contains:

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Arts Journal Associate Editors listing available

Published on December 6, 2011 in Journal and Newsletter. 0 Comments

arts_frontAs part of the process of publishing The International Journal of the Arts in Society all submissions are sent for peer refereeing, prior to publication.

Assessment, comments and guidance by the referees are an essential part of the publication process and invaluable to the authors of the submitted papers.

In recognition of the important role of referees, the international advisory board acknowledges all referees who have refereed papers as an Associate Editor for the volume of the journal they have contributed to.

The Associate Editors listing for Volume 6 of  The International Journal of the Arts in Society is now available.