Artists As Inventors Inventors As Artists

"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.

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?

Humans have created visual representations of the world since the dawn of man. While early painting and sculpture was often rudimentary, the history of visual art is characterized by rapid evolution; today’s artists use high-tech tools to share their vision. Inventions in the Visual Arts: From Cave Paintings to CAD provides a closer look at the development of cave paintings, sculptures, sketch books, cameras, and computer-aided design software. These inventions have surprising links to one another, which the book outlines in chronological order, and have forever changed the landscape of art—and beyond.

Get Your Move On! In Making Things Move: DIY Mechanisms for Inventors, Hobbyists, and Artists, you'll learn how to successfully build moving mechanisms through non-technical explanations, examples, and do-it-yourself projects--from kinetic art installations to creative toys to energy-harvesting devices. Photographs, illustrations, screen shots, and images of 3D models are included for each project. This unique resource emphasizes using off-the-shelf components, readily available materials, and accessible fabrication techniques. Simple projects give you hands-on practice applying the skills covered in each chapter, and more complex projects at the end of the book incorporate topics from multiple chapters. Turn your imaginative ideas into reality with help from this practical, inventive guide. Discover how to: Find and select materials Fasten and join parts Measure force, friction, and torque Understand mechanical and electrical power, work, and energy Create and control motion Work with bearings, couplers, gears, screws, and springs Combine simple machines for work and fun Projects include: Rube Goldberg breakfast machine Mousetrap powered car DIY motor with magnet wire Motor direction and speed control Designing and fabricating spur gears Animated creations in paper An interactive rotating platform Small vertical axis wind turbine SADbot: the seasonally affected drawing robot Make Great Stuff! TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional, is a leading publisher of DIY technology books for makers, hackers, and electronics hobbyists.

This new series explores the lives of the men and women who had a profound influence on the shaping of the world--particularly the ways in which the sciences, arts, and letters are perceived by the modern observer, Ideally suited for school reports, these books are fully documented, with sidebars that provide background information about each subject. This series meets world history curriculum standards.