Today the media arts not only address the great themes of our times, they inhabit the very media of which they speak. The contemporary is global, but only because of the media that enable globalisation. Those media are almost nowhere apparent in the mainstream practice of art that we see in biennials from Venice to Sao Paolo. The media arts reflect back to us our present condition, and in the archive present us with the ghosts of what we were, and what we failed to become. This book brings the reader into the centre of these strange encounters, introducing us to the rich legacies and futures of the most important arts of the last hundred years. It also looks ahead to the future and asks what happens to the condition of being human within the new constellation into which we are entering?

"Using both historical and contemporary examples, this publication traces the complex relationships between art, technology, and science, focusing on technological and artistic media from the nineteenth century to the present day." "The interplay of technological invention and artistic innovation requires a variety of methods, ranging from the fine arts and cultural studies to the history of science and media archaeology. Among the key themes, which the contributions examine from a variety of perspectives, are: the status of technology as a shared feature of or "boundary object" between art and science; the conflicts among ethical, aesthetic, and economic values in the system of art versus that of technology; the paradox that inventions are regarded as achievements of individual geniuses but can actually only be made and successfully applied if they have been sanctioned by the sociohistorical zeitgeist."--BOOK JACKET.

"Larry Shiner challenges our conventional understandings of art and asks us to reconsider its history entirely, arguing that the category of ine art is a modern invention - and that the lines drawn between art and craft emerged only as the result of key European social transformations during the long eighteenth century"--Publisher's description.

Chinese edition of The art of invention:The Creative Process of Discovery and Design by Steven J. Paley. In Traditional Chinese. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

The history of animated cartoons has for decades been dominated by the accomplishments of Walt Disney, giving the impression that he invented the medium. In reality, it was the work of several pioneers. Max Fleischer--inventor of the Rotoscope technique of tracing animation frame by frame over live-action footage--was one of the most prominent. By the 1930s, Fleischer and Disney were the leading producers of animated films but took opposite approaches. Where Disney reflected a Midwestern sentimentality, Fleischer presented a sophisticated urban attitude with elements of German Expressionism and organic progression. In contrast to Disney's naturalistic animation, Fleischer's violated physical laws, supporting his maxim: "If it can be done in real life, it isn't animation." As a result, Fleischer's cartoons were rough rather than refined, commercial rather than consciously artistic--yet attained a distinctive artistry through Fleischer's innovations. This book covers his life and work and the history of the studio that bore his name, with previously unpublished artwork and photographs.

Presents the childhood years, family life, early influences, inventions, and masterpieces of this renowned fifteenth-century inventor and artist.

"From this lively and personal account, we learn that we can all practice inventorship to great advantage-measured either in gold or pleasure, or perhaps both!"-From the Foreword by Walter Cronkite "Inventorship is truly the stuff from which the future will be molded. Giving us an insight into the everyday thought processes of great inventive minds, Greene's wonderful collection of stories and ideas is a model for each of us in the art of inventiveness."-Pat Hallberg, Executive Director, National Inventors Hall of Fame "This entertaining and well-written work educates without pain and motivates the reader to learn more. It should be widely read not only by business people and entrepreneurs, but by young people, their parents, and their teachers. The lesson: Inventorship is for everyone and can change lives for the better."-Joseph N. Hankin, President, Westchester Community College "After all the scholarly books and articles about innovation and the entrepreneurial process by theorists, how refreshing it is to hear from a real live inventor holding hundreds of patents in fields as diverse as aeronautics, sailing, chess, and skiing! He has even invented a word, 'inventorship', to describe the process and guide us through dozens of examples. A very useful book."-John Diebold, Chairman, The JD Consulting Group, Inc.

A brief biography of the inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, who planned from early childhood to be a painter of great historical pictures but first won recognition as a portrait painter.

An examination of Rufus Porter, an enigmatic but astonishingly productive American artist, inventor, and publisher. Presents his life and work in the context of the cultural, social, and technological networks that shaped innovation and democracy during the antebellum era.

A Chicago Tribune Noteworthy Book of the Year Nearly 140 years ago, in frontier California, photographer Eadweard Muybridge captured time with his camera and played it back on a flickering screen, inventing the breakthrough technology of moving pictures. Yet the visionary inventor Muybridge was also a murderer who killed coolly and meticulously, and his trial became a national sensation. Despite Muybridge’s crime, the artist’s patron, railroad tycoon Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University, hired the photographer to answer the question of whether the four hooves of a running horse ever left the ground all at once—and together these two unlikely men launched the age of visual media. Written with style and passion by National Book Award-winner Edward Ball, this riveting true-crime tale of the partnership between the murderer who invented the movies and the robber baron who built the railroads puts on display the virtues and vices of the great American West.