Leonardo
Volume 33, Number 4
Contents
2000
Leonardo is a print journal, edited by Leonardo/the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology, and published by the MIT Press. Subscriptions and individual issues can be ordered from the MIT Press.
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Page 247
Editorial
Sonia Landy Sheridan: The New Artist and Leonardo
Pages 249-261
The Leonardo Gallery
in::FORMATION: The Aesthetic Use of Machinic Beings
Curated by James R. Hugunin
- Stephen Boyer, Kym Olsen And Trevor Martin, Valerie Sullivan Fuchs, Kevin Heisner, Daniel Wayne Miller, Fernando Orellana, Sabrina Raaf, Kenneth Rinaldo, Amy Youngs
Pages 263-266
Artists' Statements
- JACALYN LOPEZ GARCIA: Glass Houses: A View of American Assimilation from a Mexican-American Perspective
- Ugur Güdükbay: Beyond Tradition and Modernity: Digital Shadow Theater
- Joan Truckenbrod: Torn Touch: Interactive Installation
Pages 267-274
Artist's Article
Siún Hanrahan: An Exploration of How Objectivity Is Practiced in Art
Abstract
In the binary economy of art and science, art's subjectivity is widely perceived as undermining its contribution to knowledge. Even when invoked by those with a vested interest in art, the potential ascribed to art within this economy does not do justice to the range and critical power of art. Transgressing this art-science binary, the author explores how objectivity is practiced within art and argues that the relationship between art and science is not a matter of boundaries but of intertwined inflections of understanding.
Pages 275-280
Artist's Article
Douglas Rosenberg: Video Space: A Site for Choreography
Abstract
Since the advent of the film art form, the author finds, cinema and dance have engaged in an almost unbroken courtship, each appropriating techniques and styles from the object of affection. A hybrid form, video dance, has resulted; its recording medium may be thought of as its site. The architecture of this site provides a distinctive context for the the critique of dances created for it. The collaborative process necessary to realize the potential of video dance is found to require a reconstruction of the dancing body as unencumbered by the restraints of time and space.
Pages 281-288
Technical Article
Michael Price: A Renaissance of Color: Particle Separation and Preparation of Azurite for Use in Oil Painting
ABSTRACT
The discovery of a technique for the particle separation and preparation of the blue mineral pigment azurite for use in an oil painting medium aids the comparison of colors used in the Renaissance with modern synthetic pigments. Chroma or chromatic intensity is presented as the key to understanding the language of color theory. This is supported by the first images ever of azurite cut by a focused ion beam (FIB) in order to compare unprepared and prepared particles of the mineral and thus demonstrate the importance of the preparation process. The implications of a natural pigment renaissance for artists and restorers are assessed.
Pages 289-297
Technical Article
Radan Martinec: Rhythm in Multimodal Texts
ABSTRACT
The author presents a hierarchical model of rhythm in language, music and action and applies it to the integration of these semiotic modes in multimodal texts. The model distinguishes between rhythm and meter; meter is shown to synchronize the rhythmic hierarchies of musical instruments, as well as of voice, music and action. The author identifies the meanings conveyed by varieties of multimodal synchronization.
Pages 299-304
Technical Article
Natalie Shifrin Whitson: The Specter of the Golem: The Quest for Safer Encaustic Painting Practice in the Age of OSHA
ABSTRACT
The author's use of the millennia-old, multi-dimensional encaustic painting technique, which uses hot colored wax as a painting medium, led her to the literary and artistic concept of the golem, which she sees as a metaphor for the appropriate use of technology. This, in turn, prompted the author to learn more about encaustic from an industrial-hygiene perspective. Owing to the commendable handling characteristics of encaustic, many painters after using it never go back to using oil or acrylic paints; however, the act of heating wax creates airborne substances that can cause long-term health effects to artists who do not take common-sense precautions. This article offers information to help artists set up safer encaustic/conventional painting studios. The author also introduces encaustic's long history, describes various encaustic techniques and lists permanent pigments that are generally safer than other professionally accepted materials.
Pages 305-313
Theoretical Perspective
Patrick Beveridge: Color Perception and the Art of James Turrell
ABSTRACT
The author discusses James Turrell's artworks in relation to contemporary disputes about the nature of color. The idea of Turrell's pieces as "pure chromatic sensations" is implausible to perceptual psychologists who have adopted the ecological approach of J.J. Gibson. Such psychologists view visual sensations as mere symptoms of the stimulation of the photoreceptors on our retinae. Their idea goes against the traditional theory of color. The tendency of philosophers throughout history has been to take colors to be the exemplary instances of simple, unanalyzable qualities. However, the difficulties of proving that these qualities can be traced back to a set of material properties suggest that there is no coherent view on their ontological status. The author considers current efforts to address this problem, along with the relevance of these attempts to criticism of Turrell's works.
Special Section: Leonardo Fights Back
Page 316
Introduction
Pamela Grant-Ryan: Leonardo Fights Back!
Pages 317-319
Roger F. Malina: Open Letter to Our Readers
Pages 321-324
Document
Reinhold Grether: How the etoy Campaign Was Won: An Agent's Report
Pages 325-326
Commentaries
Pages 327-328
Leonardo Web Resources
Pages 329-339
Leonardo Reviews
Roy R. Behrens, Fred Andersson, Wilfred Niels Arnold, Bulat M. Galeyev, Murat Aydemir, David Topper, Paul Hertz, Prasad Rao, Rahma Khazam, Kevin Murray, Sonya Rapoport.
Pages 341-344
Leonardo/ISAST News
