Visions Of The Now

Initiated by Swedish artist Anna Lundh, Visions of the Now is a reconsideration of the 1966 Stockholm festival Visioner av Nuet (Visions of the Present), which aimed to examine the impact of technology on humanity, society, and art; half a century later, we are immersed in the technology that was still “new” in 1966. Lundh's project took place in 2013 and brought together international artists, musicians, theorists, and scientists for a three-day festival of lectures, panels, performances, sound pieces, installations, and screenings. What, it asked, are our current visions of the now, and how do we imagine the future? This two-volume set marks the fiftieth anniversary of Visioner av Nuet and contains the catalogue and proceedings of the 2013 festival, new contributions by the invitees, and photo documentation. Archival material from the 1966 festival, with never-before-published correspondence with John Cage and Buckminster Fuller and texts by Alvin Lucier and Nam June Paik, is featured along with the connected history of the 1966 New York festival, 9 Evenings of Theatre and Engineering. Contributors Katja Aglert, Cecilia Åsberg, Lars-Gunnar Bodin, Rosi Braidotti, Tyler Coburn, Brian Droitcour, Mathew Dryhurst, Katarina Elvén, Luke Fischbeck (Lucky Dragons), Jacob Gaboury, Jennifer A. González, Goodiepal, Sanne Krogh Groth, Gry Worre Hallberg, Hannah Heilmann, Holly Herndon, Natalie Jerenijenko, Jacob Kirkegaard, Siri Landgren, Kristin Lucas, Magnus Larsson, Anna Lundh, Julie Martin, Astrida Neimanis, Laurel Ptak, Sten Ternström

A legendary painting by Rembrandt forms the centerpiece of this exploration of self-portraits by leading artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Published to commemorate an exhibition presented by Gagosian in partnership with English Heritage, this stunning volume centers on Rembrandt's masterpiece Self-Portrait with Two Circles (c. 1665), from the collection of Kenwood House in London. The painting is considered to be Rembrandt's greatest late self-portrait and is accompanied here by examples of the genre from leading artists of the past one hundred years. These include works by Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucian Freud, and Pablo Picasso, as well as contemporary artists such as Georg Baselitz, Glenn Brown, Urs Fischer, Damien Hirst, Howard Hodgkin, Giuseppe Penone, Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and Rudolf Stingel, among others. Also featured is a new work by Jenny Saville, created in response to Rembrandt's masterpiece. Full-color plates of the works, generous details, and installation views of the exhibition accompany an expansive essay by art historian David Freedberg that provides a close look at the self-portraits created by Rembrandt throughout his life and considers the role of the Dutch master as the precursor of all modern painting.

DIVHackett's innovative self-help guide includes a basic 12-week program of simple routines and drills recommended for correcting nearsightedness, farsightedness, crossed eyes, and other serious eye problems. 37 illustrations. /div

Thinking about laser eye surgery? Tired of glasses and contacts? Take a look at this easy-to-follow, step-by-step method for improving poor vision. Hackett's innovative self-help guide includes a basic 12-week program of simple routines and drills that are recommended for correcting nearsightedness, farsightedness, crossed eyes, color-blindness, glaucoma, cataracts, and other serious eye problems. Incorporating Dr. William H. Bates' treatment of systematic exercise and training — techniques generally applied in treating and rehabilitating handicapped patients — the text suggests that relaxation, eyesight training, and skillful use of psychological factors are important elements that can possibly lead to improved eye functions. Bates, a practicing New York City ophthalmologist, first demonstrated his method of improving defective vision in the 1920s. Since then, thousands of people have been helped by methods devised by the doctor and his pupils. A useful aid for anyone experiencing problems with their vision, this practical guide will also be of value to healthcare specialists.

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is one of the greatest European writers, whose untrammelled imaginative capacity was matched by a huge base in embracing the science of his era. His texts also paint compelling visual images. In Visions of Heaven, renowned scholar Martin Kemp investigates Dante's supreme vision of divine light and its implications for the visual artists who were the inheritors of Dante's vision. The whole book may be regarded as a new Paragone (comparison), the debate that began in the Renaissance about which of the arts is superior. Dante's ravishing accounts of divine light set painters the severest challenge, which took them centuries to meet. A major theme running through Dante's Divine Comedy, particularly in its third book, the Paradiso, centres on Dante's acts of seeing (conducted according to optical rules with respect to the kind of visual experience that can be accomplished on earth) and the overwhelming of Dante's earthly senses by heavenly light, which does not obey his rules of earthly optics. The repeated blinding of Dante by excessive light sets the tone for artists' portrayal of unseeable brightness.

When the wicked have traveled a course of sin, and discover they have reason to fear the God;s judgement and wrath for their sins, they begin to wish there is no God to punish them, then by degrees they persuade themselves there is no God, and then they set themselves to study the arguments to support their opinion. This excellent book by John Bunyan covers the subject matter of the existence of heaven and hell as well as studies and dispells the arguments presented by sinners who argue there is no heaven and hell. Most do not know that Bunyan wrote some 60 books, and poetry too. And also almost a well-kept secret is that his doctrine was so biblically laced that many good men would call him too severe. He believed in, and taught, ALL the doctrines of grace, including double-predestination, or reprobation. Why then is he not smeared with the name of hyper-Calvinist like Goodwin, Gill, and others? I guess the same people ought to call Luther a hyper-Lutheran, for he believed and taught it, too. Why begin a review of Bunyan's writings with such a view of his doctrine? It is to show that a Pilgrim's Progress can come only from someone who believes and teaches ALL the counsel of God, without flinching, yea, with loving-kindness. Illegally, He sat in a jail cell over a river for 12 years with his Bible, Galatians by Luther, and another book or two. He had the choice of feeling miserable and murmuring, or of filling his time, thoughts, and energies with studying that Bible, and seeking a way to be of help to his more comfortable, but less dedicated, brothers and sisters. Listen, dear saints, you can't do any better than reading Bunyan. Like Gurnall, he covers everything here and there, and with a sweetness that can come only from God. What a shame that his large heart should be encased in such small print. But, like digging gold, it is worth the time and trouble to dig spiritual gold. Bunyan (1628-1688) rose from an humble beginning to being a preacher to a little house church, to 12 years in jail because he would not agree to quit preaching, to a huge church in London. He wrote 66 books, nearly all while in jail.

Decadence Now!: Visions of Excessupdates the androgyny, druggy velvet glamour, individualist dandyism and gothic decay of nineteenth-century Decadence for our times. Here, Decadence is envisioned as a response to apocalypse, economic turmoil and the effects of late capitalism. Decadence Now!: Visions of Excessreaches back to the 1970s to examine pre-millennial rumblings of alienation, aestheticism, morbidity, pornography, intoxication and madness in the art of Nobuyoshi Araki, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, and considers more recent works by Matthew Barney, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Gilbert and George, Keith Haring, Gottfried Helnwein, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Yasumasa Morimura, Catherine Opie, Zhang Peng, Pierre et Gilles, Andres Serrano, Joel-Peter Witkin, David Wojnarowicz and many others. These works are assessed under thematic chapters: "Excess of the Self: Pain"; "Excess of the Body: Sex"; "Excess of Beauty: Pop"; and "Excess of Life: Death." Curator Otto M. Urban maps the Decadent tendency project through visual art, philosophy and literature.