Race does not exist in animation—it must instead be constructed and ascribed. Yet, over the past few years, there has been growing discourse on the intersection of these two subjects within both academic and popular circles. In Race and the Animated Bodyscape: Constructing and Ascribing a Racialized Asian Identity in "Avatar" and "Korra," author Francis M. Agnoli introduces and illustrates the concept of the animated bodyscape, looking specifically at the US television series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel, The Legend of Korra. Rather than consider animated figures as unified wholes, Agnoli views them as complexes of signs, made up of visual, aural, and narrative components that complement, contradict, and otherwise interact with each other in the creation of meaning. Every one of these components matters, as they are each the result of a series of creative decisions made by various personnel across different production processes. This volume (re)constructs production narratives for Avatar and Korra using original and preexisting interviews with cast and crew members as well as behind-the-scenes material. Each chapter addresses how different types of components were generated, tracing their development from preliminary research to final animation. In doing so, this project identifies the interlocking sets of production communities behind the making of animation and thus behind the making of racialized identities. Due to its illusory and constructed nature, animation affords untapped opportunities to approach the topic of race in media, looking beyond the role of the actor and taking into account the various factors and processes behind the production of racialized performances. The analysis of race and animation calls for a holistic approach, one that treats both the visual and the aural as intimately connected. This volume offers a blueprint for how to approach the analysis of race and animation.

Can there be more than one reality at a time, and can we experience them both? These were the questions that led photographer and former psychology professor Allan I. Teger to create this collection of black and white Bodyscapes(R). At first glance, Bodyscapes appear to be landscapes; a second look shows that they are in fact nude bodies with small toys and miniatures set on them. Spanning a 35-year period, this collection shows more than 110 black and white images photographed in a single exposure without any post processing or manipulation. The body becomes the setting for golfing, skiing, mountain climbing, surfing, and other sports. Other images feature landscapes ranging from rolling farmlands to beaches and outer space. They are fun, beautiful, and sensual, but always in good taste. This elegant portfolio of Teger's images is an ideal, reality-bending addition to any art photography library.

Western art has long sought to visualize the perfect body. Whether composed from fragments or derived from a single model, this ideal, straight, white body is now in crisis. But what will take its place? In Bodyscape, Nicholas Mirzoeff traces the roots of our current obsession with body images from revolutionary France to contemporary New York. He argues that the representation of the body has always shaped, and been shaped by, crises of political and cultural identity. Mirzoeff's illuminating study engages with artists' work in painting, sculpture, photography and film, showing the centrality of the body in the work of artists ranging from Leonardo, Manet and Poussin, to photographers Julia Margaret Cameron and Paul Strand, to Cindy Sherman, Kiki Smith and Nancy Spero.

"What beautifies the desert is that it hides a well somewhere," says Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Little Prince. As one of the most fertile symbols in the writings of almost every tradition, the desert is often seen as the place of our origins, the place of our gods or demons. We go to the desert to seek visions, to commune with nature in its purest, wildest form and to find artistic inspiration. The photography of Jean Paul Bourdier captures beautifully the ethos of "finding more than we seek". His images of people situated inside a desert landscape shimmers like heat escaping from pavement on a hot afternoon. Bourdier aligns the body with the landscape, and renders the landscape onto the body of his subjects. His unique vision is never digitally altered and the camera captures the artist's exact vision. Bourdier's work is a reflection of his varied interests, as he is a Professor of architecture, photography, design, and visual studies at the University of California, Berkeley. An introductory essay by noted avant garde filmmaker (and Bourdier's wife and model) Trinh T. Minh-ha places his work in a grand tradition of the sensual and the extrasensory, and a scattering of Bourdier's poems add yet another level of aesthetic appreciation.

These papers, from the annual Summer/Spring School of the IRTG, revolve around the theme of “troubling the social”, exploring the complex relationships between religion, social worlds and transformation from the vantage point of the postcolony—not so much as a geographical location, but rather as a way to understand the world. The contributions examine the coloniality inherent within the academic enterprises related to religion, but also what, how, and why religious experiences, worldviews and engagements count as knowledge and the implications this has for understanding, examining, and activating social transformation processes. Processes of transformation have been prominent within the continent in the last decade and still animate crucial debates and knowledge production. In these, religion has figured paradoxically as the “blind spot” or occupied a default and marginal position. However, religion participates, through a complex assemblage of practices, subjectivities and meaning-making processes, in the creation of social worlds, social imagination and social transformations. They also explore how the decolonial renaissance is troubling the social and epistemic origins of religion and the social sciences, as well as its imagined relation to social transformation. Contributors are from Southern Africa and Germany, societies with histories of colonialism and segregation, both of which have experienced postcolonial transformations to the social fabric of their societies, and both have increasingly seen calls also for critical research on coloniality, religion and social transformation.

The author traces the history and theory of visual culture asking how and why visual media have become so central to contemporary everyday life. He explores a wide range of visual forms, including painting, sculpture, photography, television, cinema, virtual reality, and the Internet while addressing the subjects of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, the body, and the international media event that followed the death of Princess Diana.

Unpacking assumptions about corseting, Rebecca Gibson supplements narratives of corseted women from the 18th and 19th centuries with her seminal work on corset-related skeletal deformation. An undergarment that provided support and shape for centuries, the corset occupies a familiar but exotic space in modern consciousness, created by two sometimes contradictory narrative arcs: the texts that women wrote regarding their own corseting experiences and the recorded opinions of the medical community during the 19th century. Combining these texts with skeletal age data and rib and vertebrae measurements from remains at St. Bride’s parish London dating from 1700 to 1900, the author discusses corseting in terms of health and longevity, situates corseting as an everyday practice that crossed urban socio-economic boundaries, and attests to the practice as part of normal female life during the time period Gibson’s bioarchaeology of binding is is the first large-scalar, multi-site bioethnography of the corseted woman.

Essays on the film "The Piano".

This study of selected literary and cinematic works by Michael Ondaatje investigates the political potential of the Canadian author's aesthetics. Contributing to current debates about affect and representation, ideology critique and the artwork, trauma and testimony, this book uses the concept of the haptic to demonstrate how Ondaatje's multisensory, fluid and historically inflected writing can forge an enabling relationship between audience, author and text. This is where Ondaatje's micropolitics, often misconstrued as ideologically suspect aestheticism, emerges: a praxis that intimates how one can write and read politically with a difference.

The intersection of art, design, and digitalization marks a pivotal shift in how creative processes are conceived, executed, and experienced. As contemporary technology continues to evolve, it profoundly influences the methods and mediums of artistic expression, reshaping traditional practices and giving rise to new forms such as digital, software, and virtual art. This technological transformation is not just altering the landscape of art and design but is also redefining the future of creativity itself. Understanding the impact of these advancements is essential for grasping the current and future trajectories of artistic innovation. Impact of Contemporary Technology on Art and Design offers a thorough exploration of the dynamic relationship between new technologies, art, and design. The book delves into a wide array of topics, including contemporary and digital art, computer and software art, virtual and interactive art, video art, animation, and digital advertising. By tracing the historical trajectory from traditional to digital practices, it provides a comprehensive analysis of how art and design processes are adapting to the digital age. This volume is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the evolving landscape of art and design, from artists and designers to academics, and researchers, seeking to understand the profound changes reshaping creative expression.