The Hearing Eye

Humans receive the vast majority of sensory perception through the eyes and ears. This non-technical book examines the everyday physics behind hearing and vision to help readers understand more about themselves and their physical environment. It begins wit

The widespread presence of jazz and blues in African American visual art has long been overlooked. The Hearing Eye makes the case for recognizing the music's importance, both as formal template and as explicit subject matter. Moving on from the use of iconic musical figures and motifs in Harlem Renaissance art, this groundbreaking collection explores the more allusive - and elusive - references to jazz and blues in a wide range of mostly contemporary visual artists. There are scholarly essays on the painters Rose Piper (Graham Lock), Norman Lewis (Sara Wood), Bob Thompson (Richard H. King), Romare Bearden (Robert G. O'Meally, Johannes V?lz) and Jean-Michel Basquiat (Robert Farris Thompson), as well an account of early blues advertising art (Paul Oliver) and a discussion of the photographs of Roy DeCarava (Richard Ings). These essays are interspersed with a series of in-depth interviews by Graham Lock, who talks to quilter Michael Cummings and painters Sam Middleton, Wadsworth Jarrell, Joe Overstreet and Ellen Banks about their musical inspirations, and also looks at art's reciprocal effect on music in conversation with saxophonists Marty Ehrlich and Jane Ira Bloom. With numerous illustrations both in the book and on its companion website, The Hearing Eye reaffirms the significance of a fascinating and dynamic aspect of African American visual art that has been too long neglected.

Kids who are deaf or hard of hearing might not be able hear what's going on around them, but their eyes give them a lot of information about the world. Some people who are deaf or hard of hearing might wear hearing aids or have surgery to help their ears hear better, while others rely even more on their eyes for help. People who can't hear can understand a lot by watching people's actions and looking at the expressions on their faces. They might also be able to lip-read or they might use sign language to communicate. Being deaf or hard of hearing doesn't mean life is any less exciting and interesting!