.

Hidden Gem: Decorative Alphabets Throughout the Ages

2012-01-30T19:36:00.003-05:00

Decorative Alphabets Throughout the Ages

A great book with big pages and detailed, colored examples of lettering from illuminated manuscripts to modern times. Check out this hidden gem the next time you're in the library!

LADY GAGA TERRY RICHARDSON

2012-01-20T15:41:00.004-05:00

LADY GAGA TERRY RICHARDSON

Do you wish you had high quality images of Lady GaGa wearing a meat suit? Fear not, for the MFA donated this book to our library.

Calling for Submissions to the Zine Production Grant

2012-01-11T14:49:00.006-05:00

ZINE PRODUCTION GRANT

an initiative of Stackable Ephemera

If you are interested in making zines but feel discouraged by the new photocopier fees, The Collection of Stackable Ephemera at the SMFA Library has a solution!

The Zine Production Grant is an initiative of The Collection of Stackable Ephemera. The aim is to award grants in the form of $40.00 worth of copy cards to students, faculty, and staff interested in pursuing zine projects. Larger grants will also be considered.

Here’s how it works:

You submit a project proposal to the Collection/Library. You can either e-mail your submission(s) to SMFA Librarian Darin Murphy at dmurphy@smfa.edu, or drop it off in person at the Library. This proposal must include the following:

· Two paragraphs describing each zine. If you are proposing a series, provide a third paragraph.

· An estimated budget, taking into account the .07 cents cost per photocopy and how the $40.00 will be used.

· An estimated number of editions, including 10 for the Library.

One copy will be added to the Collection of Stackable Ephemera and one will be sent to the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts Library in Japan. Eight will be submitted to the forthcoming Zine Distro in the SMFA Library.

· If the zine is already in production, provide a copy for review (these will be returned to you after reviews are made.)

· Your name and contact information.

A team of Library Staff, Student Affairs Staff and one student will review each proposal. If your project is approved you will be provided with $40.00 worth of copy cards (or more, depending on the scale of your proposal).

Deadlines

First round submission deadline is January 31!

Allotments awarded Friday, February 3

Second round submissions due February 14

Allotments awarded Friday, February 17

Third round submissions due February 28

Allotments awarded Friday, March 2

Any questions?

Contact SMFA Librarian Darin Murphy at dmurphy@smfa.edu and please write “Zine Grant” in the subject line.

Image courtesy of Santiago Cardenas

Visual Resources has moved!

2012-01-11T14:36:00.005-05:00

Visual Resources... where you can get high-quality images of your work and more!

Visual Resources has moved to B024.

New Book: The Art of Hammer

2012-01-11T11:27:00.003-05:00

Horror! Terror! Lust! Suspense! It's...

The Art of Hammer: Posters from the Archive of Hammer Films

Don't look at this book alone, or you may be overwhelmed by it's sheer awesomeness! On its large, glossy pages are dozens of the best colorful, campy, classic posters of the era.

Get an eye-full of every horror and suspense movie you didn't know you wanted to see! Including unusual titles and posters from other countries!

Run-- don't walk-- to the SMFA Library today to get your hands on The Art of Hammer... before somebody else does!

New Book: The Artist's Touch, the Craftsman's Hand

2012-01-11T10:58:00.004-05:00

The Artist's Touch, the Craftsman's Hand:

Three Centuries of Japanese Prints from the Portland Art Museum

This big book is packed with countless high-quality images, so you can see every detail in the printing of the figures fine kimono's and expressive faces. In larger images, you can even see the grain of the woodblock printed in the ink.

Packed with informative captions under all images, this book also features compelling essays, such as "On and Off Stage: Gender, Identity, and Kabuki" by Laurence R. Kominz.

Don't miss checking out this fabulous collection of prints and writing!

New book: Maurizio Cattelan: All

2012-01-11T10:33:00.002-05:00

Enter the "seductive and disturbing, exuberant and sorrowful" world of the work of Maurizio Cattelan.

His sculptures and installations have just the right mix of quirky, funny, creepy, and poignant.

See more of his work in the gorgeous new book, Maurizio Cattelan: All

NOT-SO-HIDDEN GEM: KRAMERS ERGOT 7

2011-12-16T14:39:00.001-05:00

Now that your review board and all associated mental breakdowns are over and done with and you have time to enjoy the good things in life…like reading sweet comics! Hole up in the library with Kramer’s Ergot 7. Sixty cartoonists’ work fill the pages of this behemoth anthology.

Here are my favorites:

MAT BRINKMAN

MATT FURIE

WILL SWEENEY

HIDDEN GEM: SURREALIST ART

2011-12-14T15:26:00.001-05:00

You can fit this handy book on Surrealist Art in your back pocket (if your back pocket is kind of big) and pull it out if you want to be enchanted on the bus. If you don't want to be enchanted on the bus, then peruse Facebook on your iPhone.

My favorite all star Surrealist artists:
Victor Brauner, Wolftable

Meret Oppenheim, Fur-Covered Cup, Saucer, and Spoon

Rene Magritte, Philosophy in the Boudoir

NEW BOOK: THE NEW DECOR

2011-12-12T15:34:00.002-05:00

The New Decor culls together artists who re-imagine ordinary furniture. These artists blur the line between the practical and the fantastic.

I wish this bed would fit in my room:

Los Carpinteros, Cama

Robert Gober, Untitled

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2011-12-12T15:26:00.004-05:00

SMFA LIBRARY WINTER HOLIDAY HOURS

DECEMBER 20-22
9AM-5PM

DECEMBER 23-JANUARY 2
CLOSED

TUESDAY, JANUARY 3-18
9AM-5PM
CLOSED FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS, AND SUNDAYS

REGULAR HOURS BEGIN THURSDAY, JANUARY 19

SMFA LIBRARY CIRCA 1968

2011-12-12T13:42:00.003-05:00

This slide was found at the bottom of an old card catalogue. In the sixties our quaint little library was located on the A side of the building in one of the drawing rooms. These are still our tables and chairs, although the color scheme has undergone a much-needed makeover. We tried to no avail to find out the identity of the mustachioed student. We also looked up the title on the bookshelf; MAN ...an Endangered Species? This may be something we need to acquire again.

Introducing Subjects Plus!

2011-12-12T13:19:00.005-05:00

Visit the all new

SUBJECTS PLUS

The W. Van Alan Clark, Jr. Library at the SMFA is proud to share with you a new library database. Using the open source software of SubjectsPlus we are creating custom subject guides and resource pages for the SMFA Community. Please visit the link above and then click on the link Research Guides.

The whole project is still pretty new, and the library crew (namely Lauren) is plugging away to expand each subject guide. So far our Film Guide is the most developed.

You'll notice in the Film Guide that we have created lists of recommended titles in the SMFA Library collection with direct links to the FLO Catalog, so patrons can see if the title is currently available. We've also linked to journals in our collection, as well as other online resources, local screening venues, and RSS feeds to relevant sites. To aid your searches we have also included the Library of Congress Subjects Headings under which the subject is most commonly indexed. By clicking on the Library of Congress Subject Headings you will be linked back to all the titles in the FLO Catalog indexed by that term.

If you want to get back to the Homepage from any Guide, just click on the disembodied arm at the top of the page!

Perhaps the most important new features we have included are links to our electronic databases, such as JSTOR and Oxford Art Online. When linking to these databases from off-campus you will be prompted to add your SMFA Library barcode and your last name. If you do not have a current barcode, please drop by the Library so we can update your account. Each guide, as well as the home page, includes links to the electronic databases.

Do you have any feedback, criticism or ideas for the Guide? Do you know of any online resources that we'd be foolish not to include? Please send any ideas you have to dmurphy@smfa.edu.

HIDDEN GEM: THE ANXIETY OF PHOTOGRAPHY

2011-12-09T16:22:00.004-05:00

The Anxiety of Photography explores works that complicate the notion of photography. Artists use collage, appropriation and other tools to explore the materiality of the photograph.

Some goodies:

David Benjamin Sherry

Roe Etheridge

Brendan Fowler

HIDDEN GEM: THINKING OF YOU

2011-12-09T15:55:00.003-05:00

I lost count of how many penises are in Thinking of You. Pettibon never fails with his combination of humorous and poetic text and images.

HIDDEN GEM: WORLD CHANGING

2011-12-09T15:05:00.003-05:00

World Changing: A User’s Guide For the 21^st Century is the Bible of green literature, except more interesting. It’s chock full of fascinating solutions and inventions for facing our trash heap of a planet. This 600-page tome takes us across the globe, pondering sustainable communities, corporate responsibility, women’s rights, green building and design, biomimicry, clean energy, education and much more. Take a peek and get inspired!

NEW BOOKS

2011-11-30T16:18:00.003-05:00

Zwarte Piet

Anna Fox: Photographs 1983-2007

The Queer Art of Failure

Net Works: Case Studies in Web Art and Design

NEW BOOKS

2011-11-30T14:46:00.009-05:00

Believing is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography

Tony Oursler: Lock 2, 4, 6

Radcliffe Bailey: Memory as Medicine

Edmund De Waal: The Pot Book

101 Things to Learn in Art School

Talk To Me : Design and the Communication Between People and Objects

The Sadness of Men

The Altered Landscape: Photographs of a Changing Environment

Archie

Dancing with the dark: Joan Snyder Prints 1963-2010

Emil Nolde: Malt die Frauen

Emil Nolde: Travels Through Germany, Spain and Switzerland

Emil Nolde : "Ungemalte Bilder" Unpainted pictures

NEW BOOKS

2011-11-29T15:09:00.006-05:00

Dias & Riedwg ...and it becomes something else

Tiempos Violentos = Shattered Glass: Rethinking the Collection of the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil

Dance With Camera

Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957- 1962

What Can We Believe Where?: Photographs of the American West

Masters of American Illustration : 41 Illustrators & How They Worked

New Image Sculpture

Viva La Revolucion : A Dialogue with the Urban Landscape

Charles Burchfield Paintings 1915- 1964

Beyond Bling: Voices of Hip-Hop in Art

Who Is Ana Medieta?

Hans Hofman Circa 1950

Deborah Butterfield

Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in Visual Arts

My Life in Book Art

Pacific Standard Time: Los Angeles Art, 1945- 1980

Space Invaders

The Lodger

Another Art Book

Vitamin P2: New Perspectives in Paintin

Digital Photography: A Basic Manual

Pantone: The 20th Century in Color

American Studies

Infinite Jest: Caricature and Satire from Leonardo to Levine

Under The Big Black Sun: California Art 1974 - 1981

TOUCH AND GO: The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine '79-'83

2011-11-22T16:09:00.002-05:00

Touch and Go isn't a zine written by angry suburban kids who only love punk and hardcore. A quick flip-through reveals hilarious, in-depth reviews of all things alternative: post-punk, metal, goth and much more. They cover popular bands like 7 Seconds, Gang Green, and The Misfits as well as bands you've never heard of - unless you're really cool, in which case you won't need this gem of a book.

CHRISTIAN MARCLAY: FESTIVAL ISSUES 1-3

2011-11-15T13:20:00.002-05:00

These three magazines catalogue Christian Marclay's 2010 exhibition at the Whitney.

For Festival, Christian Marclay created "graphic scores" to be performed by musicians and vocalists.

Zoom Zoom is a slideshow of onomatopoeias found on advertisements. Pret-A-Porter is a performance in which musicians play the musical notes that are printed on clothing. This involved a lot of dressing, undressing and alcohol. Sixty-four Bells and a bow is quite literally musicians playing different types of bells.

Fun fact: Marclay's interest in music began right here in Boston in the late seventies when he was studying at MassArt and played music over collaged films of cartoons and sex tapes. Cool!

THE CLOCK BY CHRISTIAN MARCLAY

2011-11-09T16:49:00.002-05:00

The Clock is in book form and we have it. Luckily, it doesn't read like a book about an art piece. It totally works on its own. Come look at the *23,892,942,424 clocks in the New Books section.

*Rough estimate.

THE MOST CONTEMPORARY CONTEMPORARY ART BOOK

2011-11-02T14:39:00.000-04:00

'Capturing the breadth of a new generation of international artists can be a bit like sticking pins in a horse's arse.'
-Francesca Gavin

Everything I like about this book really is explained in the title. Once in awhile a contemporary art book that is devoid of long-winded categorizing, theorizing and historicizing is pretty refreshing. 100 artists from all over the world speak for themselves in short and sweet interviews. It's the perfect jumping off point to find out more about these artists, most of which aren't much older than we are. Here are a few of my favorite up and comers.

Ioana Nemes

Melanie Bonaho

Louie Cordero

NEW BOOK: CUT & PASTE

2011-10-31T15:11:00.000-04:00

Despite collage art being bigger than ever, it seems like we only house the classics here at SMFA. Fret not - we just got a brand new book on contemporary collage art.

While I admit I'm bored of cutesy vintage collage and annoyingly ignorant cultural appropriation, there are more than a few artists in this book making imaginative, thought-provoking work. You could spend hours feasting your eyes on the likes of Jakob Kolding, Kraffhics and Julien Pacaud.

NEW BOOK: KEMBRA PFAHLER

2011-10-26T15:40:00.000-04:00

'IT IS BEAUTALIST. THE FORCED TEMPORARY TRANSFORMATION THAT IS THE VOLUPTUOUS HORROR OF KAREN BLACK: CHANGING COLORS, "MAKING OUR MARK," SITTING AROUND, INSTITUTING A NEW FEMALE PARADIGM, AND PRODUCING FEMORABILIA.'
-Kembra Pfahler

Anybody interested in performance, identity politics, or wearing 20 wigs at once should have a look at Kembra Pfahler's new book. Yves Klein's blue women pale in comparison to Kembra's multi-colored back-up ladies!

A RAD BOOK: VIGNETTES

2011-10-24T14:09:00.002-04:00

The book Vignettes is Clip Art's great grandparent with ten times more style. Have a heyday scanning, tracing or photocopying images from subjects ranging from marine life to typography. The eight pages on hands alone are worth having a look at.

TWO NEW BOOKS ABOUT DREAMS

2011-10-11T11:02:00.003-04:00

Take a peek into the minds of two of the most influential people of the 20th century!

The Red Book (also known as Liber Novus, The New Book), by Carl Jung had been completed for 69 years before the public was ever able to lay eyes upon it. This gem is a document of the Swiss psychologist's 'voluntary confrontation with the unconscious'. Here Jung developed his theories of archetypes and the collective unconscious. And luckily for us, all of the fancy German script is transcribed in the back of the book.

Now, we have an even more brand spanking new dream book. Frederico Fellini, the famous Italian director whose oeuvre contains masterpieces like 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita, kept a notebook detailing his dreams for thirty years. Coincidently he began his dream journals under the influence of a Jungian analyst. These lush watercolor illustrations and hilarious summaries will make your dreams seem hopelessly boring and uninspired. In the event that you cannot read Italian or decipher chicken scratch, there are also full transcriptions in the back.

The Unseen Eye: Photographs From the Unconscious

2011-10-04T13:12:00.002-04:00

This book has a simple theme - portraits of people whose eyes are closed or obscured. From Joel-Peter Witkin's photo of a decapitated corpse to Diane Arbus's costumed children, from a photos of the KKK to children laughing, the scope is far-reaching, and is peppered with W.M. Hunt's reasoning for including different works. Any photographer interested in portraiture should have a look.

New Books Highlights: Altered Books

2011-09-19T18:42:00.003-04:00

The library has added three amazing new titles about gorgeous altered books!

The repurposed library : 33 craft projects that give old books new life

Book art : iconic sculptures and installations made from books

Bookwork : medium to object to concept to art

Be sure to check out these titles the next time you are in the library!

TWO BOOKS ABOUT MAGAZINES

2011-09-19T15:56:00.004-04:00

In Artist's Magazines: An Alternative Space For Art, Gwen Allen takes on eight publications, including Artforum, File, Art-Rite and Avalanche. In this text-heavy document Allen provides rich context and in-depth analysis of the publications. For the hardcore zine fan.

In Numbers: Serial Publications Since 1955 covers significantly more publications - 56 to be exact. This behemoth monograph may be preferable for the folks who want numerous, large, scan-worthy images. And it isn't lacking in text either - it chronicles the life and times of many lesser-known publications like Vile, SLUTS, and Tripping Corpse.

See them both in our NEW BOOKS section.

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS

2011-09-19T15:18:00.002-04:00

For those of you who know Mike Kelley only for his mind-blowing video art like Day Is Done, I'd like to inform you that he and some pals (Cary Loren, Niagara, Jim Shaw, all members of a band of the same name) made a zine WAY ahead of it's time in the seventies.

If you like Paper Rodeo or Le Dernier Cri, you may pee your pants over this.

NEW BOOKS: Love Is What You Want, Free Press, Behind the Fourth Wall

2011-09-16T10:35:00.006-04:00

Tracey Emin: Love is What You Want. Yet another Hayward Gallery catalogue has arrived in our library shelves and they have not stopped enchanting us. This time it is with Tracey Emin's exhibition, "Love is what you want" the book covers the exhibition's works, including many that have never been shown before.

There is a range of video and installation work as well as her well-known text pieces. The survey of Emin's work reveals years of very introspective, desperate, irony that most often resonates with longing.

Come check it out!

Free Press: Underground & Alternative Publication 1965-1975. The publications shown in this book were all members of the Underground Press Syndicate, which was founded in 1967 and later renamed the Alternative Press Syndicate. The members founded the APS so that they could freely share and reprint material. The APS' model exploded world-wide with dozens of alternative publications. The books documents publications from politics, film and fashion- to name a few. And considers such writers as Hunter S. Thompson, Ken Kesey, Coraghessan Boyle, etc. It is quite a find!

Behind the Fourth Wall: Fictitious Lives-Lived Fictions. This is the catalogue for the exhibition by the same name that occurred at the Generali Foundation in Vienna last year. The artists in the show were invited to react to the medium of the fourth wall which was first proposed by Diderot as the imaginary wall at the very front of the stage that would complete the conventional three-wall box set theatre. The idea is to consider the boundary between any fictional work and its audience. Thus, the exhibition ranges from many different mediums, such as photography, video installation, slide shows and live work considering this term.

ARTIST BOOK FRIDAYS

2011-09-12T15:04:00.003-04:00

Did you know that you don't have to wait for a class visit to see our amazing selection of limited edition and one-of-a-kind artist books? Make an appointment with Darin to view the Special Collection and talk about what kind of artist books you're into - pop-ups, accordions, zines, sculptural books - and you can spend the day perusing the stuff you're really interested in!

FRIDAY AFTERNOONS are the best time to do it. Bring a small group of like-minded buds while you're at it.

NEW BOOK: Move. Choreographing You: Art and Dance since the 1960s

2011-09-09T14:28:00.004-04:00

Move. Choreographing You is a recent exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in the South Bank of London, you can see the exhibition's website here: http://move.southbankcentre.co.uk/ or you can come check out the exhibition catalog right here at the library! It is a beautiful book comprised of more than 4 decades capturing the relationship between visual arts and dance as a channel for performing routine behaviors as scripts and choreography. Edited by Stephanie Rosenthal, it brings together performative actions beginning with Kaprow and Pollock and covering such artists as Merce Cunningham, Lygia Clark, Bruce Nauman, Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, Robert Morris, Tania Bruguera, Janine Antoni and even our own faculty, Mary Ellen Strom! In all, it is a very exciting book for anyone interested in the performative body. Come see it!

BACK TO SCHOOL

2011-09-05T11:36:00.000-04:00

It's back to school time, which equates to inordinate amounts of time spent hanging out and studying at the library...right? Right?

New and returning students should hightail it to the library so they can set up their library accounts (or update their information) and take advantage of all the cool stuff we have to offer, including an Artstor account, a fabulous view of the Fenway, and all our new books, which are by the entrance.

We are processing new books daily, and just subscribed to Bitch, thus excitement is guaranteed.

Looking forward to meeting all the first years and transfers!

New Books: Contemporary Artists Series

2011-08-22T15:35:00.005-04:00

The Contemporary Artists Series from Phaidon publishing have always been gems scattered throughout our collection, but now a whole new slew of artists in this excellent book series have arrived! Here are but a few of the newest additions:

NEW BOOK: DARWIN'S CAMERA

2011-08-19T15:02:00.001-04:00

Fun fact: Darwin was the first to publish a photographically illustrated science book. While photography was still in it's infancy, not trusted as an objective medium, Darwin showed the public how awesome photography can be. He did it with Expression in the Emotions of Man and Animals, in which he was the first to photograph things that happen too rapidly for the eye to see. A must-read for people interested in photo history.

NEW BOOK: THE BOOK OF SYMBOLS

2011-08-18T15:20:00.004-04:00

This book is your one-stop guide for visual symbols and archetypes. Unlike the dusty old encyclopedia books on symbols with the simple line drawings (which are definitely rad too), this book contains photographs of both ancient and contemporary art. Whether your interest be cyclops, unicorns, mirrors or rain, this volume contains a wealth of written and visual information. Plus it has little ribbon bookmarks, making you truly feel as though it's the New Age Bible.

DOCUMENTS OF CONTEMPORARY ART

2011-08-18T13:37:00.006-04:00

Documents of Contemporary Art are all over the place these days, and for good reason. For one, they look really cool. How often do you encounter a book series without a painfully bad sense of design? Even art book series typically look like they're going out of their way to appear un-fun.

Two, there's an anthology for almost everything you could possibly be interested in, and if there isn't there probably will be.

Three, although some (or a lot) of the essays are a bit esoteric, the breadth of different authors guarantee that there are some real goodies in there.

And because the library is so rad, we have almost all of them.

NEW PERIODICAL: MAKE

2011-07-25T12:30:00.004-04:00

Based on the fact that SMFA is one of the only art schools that has almost as many circuit benders as oil painters, it is high time we've acquired Make magazine. Whether you want to make a functional robot out of an Elmo toy, make an aquarium that won't liquify a jellyfish, or work on Photoshop at the treadmill, Make magazine will show you how to do that and then some. If you aren't a complete tech nerd, then you will still probably get a kick out of articles like Hutt's Cantina, detailing a man's quest to create intricate dioramas of Star Wars scenes.

AVALANCHE MAGAZINE

2011-07-06T16:02:00.003-04:00

Founded by Liza Bear and Willoughby Sharp, Avalanche is an art magazine that ran from 1970-1976. Hilarious interviews with William Wegman abound. If you love zines and artist books, be sure to make an appointment with Darin, wipe off your greasy paws and spend the day leafing through this awesome box that contains every issue. Other quintessential artists featured on these fabulous glossy pages include Yvonne Rainer, Bas Jan Ader, Vito Acconci and Gordon Matta-Clark.

NEW DONATION

2011-07-06T14:13:00.002-04:00

Recently retired head of the Metals Department Yoshiko Yamamoto left us with this new gem. The content is solid gold.

If you miss Yoshiko, we also have this treasure chest full of sparkly pendants and doodads to remember her by.

SMFA MOBIUS SUMMERTIME LECTURE SERIES

2011-07-06T12:57:00.006-04:00

Some people think libraries are just for reading books. If you weren’t aware, our library is also for watching sweet performances and hearing artist lectures. Don’t miss out on these summertime lectures, happening Wednesdays, 5:30-7PM.

June 29 - Sara June, Max Lord, Jed Speare  

July 6 - Marilyn Arsem, Daniel DeLuca, Bob Raymond  

July 13 - Derek Hoffend, Catherine Tutter, Anna Wexler  

July 20 - Mari Novotny-Jones, El Putnam  

July 27 - Tom Plsek, Joanne Rice, Alisia Waller

Hidden Gems: Secrets of the Library Vertical File

2011-07-05T14:34:00.004-04:00

Don't be afraid to search for items in the Vertical File Cabinets in the Library! They contain some definite hidden gems. The cabinets are located at the end of the banks of shelves. The Vertical Files may contain interesting lesser-known artists, or unusual collections of your favorite artists.

Here's one that caught my eye:

the work of Kwang-Young Chun

and his folded paper sculptures

Check out some hidden gems the next time you are in the library.

Hidden Gem: Graphis Diagrams

2011-06-15T14:17:00.007-04:00

Hidden Gem:

Graphis diagrams : the graphic visualization of abstract data

Check out this title full of odd, creative, compelling diagrams, maps, posters, charts, graphs and more!

Hidden Gem: Changing Faces

2011-06-14T13:07:00.004-04:00

Be sure to check out this title the next time you are in the library!

Changing Faces

by George Tscherny

"... an offbeat and humorous collection of paintings, drawings, cartoons, masks, toys, advertisements, and other works of ephemera that-- by flipping, spinning, twisting, pulling or just plain staring-- transform the human visage.... Filled with over 130 pieces of fully interactive objects from the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Victorian era and today..."

New Book: Zelluloid

2011-06-08T12:00:00.003-04:00

Zelluloid: Cameraless Film

"'Zelluloid' is dedicated to a particular genre of artistic film, in which the image is generated directly, by physically processing the film strip. Unlike other forms of experimental film, the film material is interpreted as if it were a canvas by using a diverse range of artistic processes: through painting, drawing, collage on the celluloid, scores and scratches in the photographic emulsion, chemical manipulation or the direct lightingof photo-sensitive media. Such were the origins of the cinematic avant-garde, which researches even the material nature of the medium of film and at the same time sounds out its relationship with the visual arts and also with music in ever-changing approaches. The exhibition catalogue contains outstanding examples of "films without a camera" and features approximately 20 international artists and filmmakers from the 1930s to the present day."

Hidden Gem: Unique Forms of Art

2011-06-06T13:28:00.002-04:00

Unique Forms of Art

This is undoubtedly a hidden gem. Unique Forms of Art (German: Urformen der Kunst) is a large book bound in green cloth, full of elegant and alien portraits of plant forms. Previously cataloged in a different part of the library, this hidden gem should get some more attention, now that it is appropriately cataloged and shelved in the photography section, where it belongs. Next time you're at the library, be sure to check out this classic beauty!

NEW BOOK: Dressing For Pleasure

2011-06-05T14:37:00.000-04:00

Thank goodness that John Sutcliffe, the creator of AtomAge, did not suppress his attachment to leather when it was diagnosed as a symptom of mental illness. Had he not tried his hand at sewing together a bunch of leather with his landlady's sewing machine, winning the attention of many a lady rally driver, this enigmatic collection of photographs certainly would not exist.

In the 'best of' this short-lived magazine, women and men pose in their households. Floral curtains, family photos and backyards are the standard backdrops in which these folks transform into their own fantasy sex icons.

And sorry, but I will be the first to borrow it.

NEW BOOK: BUYING IN

2011-06-04T16:06:00.000-04:00

For adbusters and Naomi Klein fans, this book is the Culture Jam of the late '00s. Walker has coined the term murketing to encompass his basic argument: while we believe we're immune to brands, we are actually embracing brands more than ever as we use products to express our identities.

NEW BOOK: REBEL YOUTH

2011-06-02T15:58:00.000-04:00

Karlheinz Weinberger: REBEL YOUTH

Swiss photographer Karlheinz Weinberger spent the 60's documenting one of the coolest subcultures of all time. Bouffant hairdos, hand-drawn back patches, and most importantly, Elvis-adorned oversize belt buckles fill the pages of this one-of-a-kind volume.

This book inspired me to start my own girl gang. It may not be the 60's and I may not be Swiss, but I'm doing what I can to be half as cool.

New Book: Liu Jin

2011-06-01T16:16:00.000-04:00

Liu Jin

Among (many) other things, Jin re-stages famous photo-journalistic moments from the Vietnam war in present day urban environments. Also, his Wounded Angel series is fantastic. A snippet:

NEW BOOK: THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP

2011-05-30T15:43:00.001-04:00

The Experimental Group

Kabakov, a children's book illustrator as well as a conceptual artist and theoretical writer, is the centerpiece of this amazingly broad volume that follows the dismantling of the Soviet Union and the artists that played a part.

Among the MANY quotables:

"The elimination of utopianism - alas, is also yet another form of utopianism. The creation of projects, project thinking, the formulation of all kinds of utopias is inherent in us, our consciousness, and furthermore, it rests as a stimulus and as a basis for any of our actions as long as we remain human beings." - Kabakov

New book: Women Artists at the Millennium

2011-05-28T15:09:00.001-04:00

It took me far too long to discover our Feminist Art section (hidden behind the comics books, no wonder). If you have yet to experience our many amazing books on woman artists, then this a great, well-rounded book to dip into. Various essays provide first hand accounts on how the feminist movement broke down the male-dominated Western canon and redefined 'greatness'. Linda Nochlin returns to her essay "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?" thirty years later. Read it and you will be astounded at how much the women's lib movement has influenced the position of female artists today.

New Book: Kenny Scharf

2011-05-27T14:43:00.001-04:00

A self-described Pop Surrealist, Scharf spent the early 80's hanging out with Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. This volume covers his entire career, from hallucinogenic Jetsons paintings to flying hot dogs in outer space. Hilarious Scharf quotes abound.

Hidden Gem: PUBLIC PRIVATES

2011-05-26T15:19:00.005-04:00

This book is for people who are interested in performance, have a vagina or know someone who has one. Of the many interesting essay topics that fit the scope of this study:

Playing Doctor: Cronenburg's Surgical Construction of Mutant Female Bodies
Retooling the Speculum: Annie Sprinkle's Public Cervix Announcement
Cadavers, Dolls and Prostitutes: Medical Pedagogy and Pelvic Rehearsal

Kapsalis deconstructs the medical establishment, examining the way it is performed and how it influences women's views of their bodies. With a scope so broad, there's a little something for everyone.

New Book: TERRENCE KOH'S LOVE FOR ETERNITY

2011-05-26T14:12:00.004-04:00

An art publication that isn't littered with incomprehensible art jargon is a gem to be treasured. Photographs of Koh's breathtakingly beautiful installations are interspersed with text that is heartfelt and unpretentious.

It also turns out that Koh has a bad ass website, which I am compelled to add:
KOHBUNNY

NEW BOOK: The Horror! The Horror!

2011-05-26T13:26:00.007-04:00

Spoiled by repeat rentals of Tales From the Crypt, Creepshow and my brother's entire hand-me-down Goosebumps collection, I can't imagine the deprivation children of the '50s felt when the Comics Code Authority effectively banned horror comics in 1954. Dr. Fredric Wertham, the man behind the ban, not only charged comics with the ability to turn children into homosexuals (what with Batman being so irresistible) but even claimed that "comic books are the death of reading." What followed were dull, uninteresting comics void of social commentary.

Jim Trombetta has culled the most best, the most gruesome, and the most sensational comics of the pre-Code era. And for us kids who most definitely weren't around in the '50s, each chapter begins with a a little bit of history. The lush, full color illustrations will blow your brain apart. And yes, it even smells like a comic book.

The Horror! The Horror!

Anish Kapoor

2011-05-25T13:54:00.004-04:00

Here are three new books about the artist who dazzled us with his exhibition at the ICA Boston in 2008.

Anish Kapoor Islamic Mirror

Anish Kapoor: svayambh

Anish Kapoor: Turning the World Upside Down

New Books: Food for thought with contemporary systems

2011-05-25T10:53:00.003-04:00

Newly added books full of essays and commentary on aesthetics, information, and curating.

Curating Subjects

Harald Szeeman: Exhibition Maker

Contemporary Art and the Museum: a Global Perspective

Access to Knowledge in the Age of Intellectual Property

The Artist's Contract

Chance Aesthetics

Contemporary Art in Asia

NEW BOOKS

2011-05-24T16:55:00.001-04:00

Here are a couple more treasures from our rapidly-expanding treasure trove.

Rachel Harrison: Museum With Walls

Olafur Eliasson: The Nature of Things

On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters

Lucian Freud on Paper

Conceptual Art

Tara Donovan

Reinventing Ritual

Yves Klein Extravaganza

2011-05-24T12:37:00.007-04:00

We've stocked up on Klein literature because no art institution can fancy themselves reputable without a little International Klein Blue on the shelves.

Yves Klein Works & Writing

Go on a monochrome journey with Yves Klein and Klaus Ottmann.

Yves Klein by himself

This Biblical-looking document is an attempt to encompass Klein's 'intellectual milieu'. Wide-reaching, it's great for die-hard Klein fans and philosophy buffs alike.

Marie Raymond, Yves Klein

The newest addition to our Klein collection is a split book with Klein's mother, famous painter Marie Raymond. Proof that most great artists would not achieve Klein-like notoriety without stellar parenting.

Yves Klein With the Void Full Powers

This book does a good job of contextualizing Klein's whole body of work AND it is fully IKB (International Klein Blue, duh!)

New New New! Read All About It!

2011-05-24T10:13:00.003-04:00

Lala Land Parody Paradise, Paul McCarthy

Good & Plenty: The Creative Successes of American Arts Funding

Fall of the Studio: Artists at Work

Dada's Boys

Since '45: America and the Making of Contemporary Art

Looking Through Duchamp's Door

Nude Visions

Photography and Cinema

Even Newer Books!

2011-05-23T13:24:00.007-04:00

Us library folk have gone into overdrive, collecting awesome books that will rock your summer.

Elixir : the video organism of Pipilotti Rist

Yayoi Kusama, mirrored years

Digital storytelling : the narrative power of visual effects in film

Twice untitled and other pictures (looking back)

Replay: Marclay

Educating artists for the future : learning at the intersections of art, science, technology, and culture

NEW BOOKS

2011-05-20T17:02:00.002-04:00

OVERSIZED AND OVERLOOKED

2011-05-20T15:57:00.003-04:00

Why is it that our largest books receive the least attention? I have devised several theories:

A. Us art school kids have not developed the proper muscles for heavy book lifting

B. People mistake them for reference books

C. Most of the book covers appear hopelessly uninteresting

I myself was unaware of how rad our oversize collection is until I was called upon to seek out some hidden treasures. And boy are there a lot of goodies.

A TREASURY OF ART MASTERPIECES

Perhaps all these outdated, dusty art history books are the reason this section gets no love. I am here to report that they really do kick butt. I repeat: the covers are deceptive!

INFERNO

Darin warned me that this book would blow my mind and I laughed it off. But he wasn’t kidding. Pieces of my brain were strewn everywhere and it required extensive vacuuming. If you’re ever having a woe-is-me moment, crack open this book and your perspective will be instantly re-adjusted.

CHRIS VERENE

At first glance, Chris Verene’s body of work looks like an exploitative account of some hicks from the middle of nowhere, Illinois. In actuality it is anything but! With text that is often hilarious and sad at the same time, Verene takes us through the wild ongoing journey of his extended family. And anybody who saw Verene speak at SMFA last semester knows he is 100% sincere as well as totally coocoo-bananas.

TELEX IRAN

Ironically, the size of Telex Iran was chosen so it couldn’t be shelved neatly among other books and ignored. It’s a highly personal account of 1979/80 seizure of the American embassy in Teheran, interspersed with telexes that allude to the author’s subjectivity.

JAN SAUDEK

This giant volume encapsulates Saudek’s largest body of work, which spans over thirty years of his beautiful, hand-tinted erotic dreamscapes, all photographed in the same dingy basement in suburban Prague.

LAST WHOLE EARTH CATALOG

This book is a bona fide gem. Painstakingly thorough, it is a catalog for all the goods you need if you are trying to overthrow the government/survive an apocalypse/what have you. It is also outdated by thirty years. (Do you remember when books costs $1.50? Neither do I.)

DIANE ARBUS

Why schlep around several books on Diane Arbus when everything you ever need to know or see is contained in this one volume?

100 YEARS OF BICYCLE POSTERS

Check out these whimsical women sailing through the sands of time without a care as to whether their flowing skirts or hair get caught in their bike chains. This is just one example of the many poster books that are great for scanning and reprinting.

NEW BOOKS!

2011-05-20T12:22:00.007-04:00

Us library folk have gone into overdrive, collecting awesome books that will rock your summer.

L'Image Obscene

Vito Acconci: Diary of a Body 1969 - 1973

Marina Abramovic + The Future of Performance Art

Internal Digging

La Boheme

Maurizio Cattelan

Installation Art

Land and Environmental Art

I Saw You

Marcel Duchamp and the Forestay Waterfall

Ursula Von Rydingsvard: Working

Shirin Neshat

Burlesque Paraphernalia

Rebecca Horn Bodylandscapes

A Sculpture Reader: Contemporary Sculpture Since 1980

If'N Oof by Brian Chippendale

On Jack Smith's Flaming Creatures and Other Secret-Flix of Cinemaroc

New Media in the White Cube and Beyond

Minimalism

Shock and the Senseless in Dada and Fluxus

Toys of the Avant-Garde

(un)FASHION

VIDEO ART: The Castello di Rivoli Collection

The Collected Fanzines of Harmony Korine

Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People

Mike Kelley

Hidden Gems: Titles that deserve a second look

2011-05-20T10:01:00.002-04:00

Be sure to check out these Hidden Gems the next time you're at the library:

Jake & Dinos Chapman : if Hitler had been a hippy how happy would we be

Sex Design

Compact cabins : simple living in 1,000 square feet or less

Hidden Gem: Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration

2011-05-18T11:12:00.003-04:00

Be sure to check out this Hidden Gem of a book next time you're at the library:

Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration

by J.G. Heck

Hidden Gem: Contemporary Erotic Drawings

2011-05-18T11:05:00.004-04:00

Be sure to check out this Hidden Gem of a book next time you're at the library:

Contemporary Erotic Drawing

curated by Stuart Horodner

Hidden Gem: Monkey Portraits

2011-05-16T15:46:00.002-04:00

Be sure to check out this Hidden Gem of a book next time you're at the library:

Monkey Portraits

Jill Greenberg

New Books Highlights: Material-Inspired Art

2011-04-25T16:33:00.003-04:00

Chihuly : through the looking glass

MFA Publications, 2011

Papermaking with garden plants & common weeds

Storey Pub, 2006

Maps : finding our place in the world

University of Chicago Press, 2007

Magnificent maps : power, propaganda and art

British Library 2010

Pulp fashion : the art of Isabelle de Borchgrave

Prestel 2010

The Spectacular of Vernacular

Distributed Art Publishers, 2011

Earth Forms

Dewi Lewis Pub, 2009

False colors : art, design, and modern camouflage

Bobolink Books, 2002

American beauty : aesthetics and innovation in fashion

Yale University Press, 2009

Strange maps : an atlas of cartographic curiosities

Viking Studio, 2009

5000 years of textiles

British Museum Press, 1993

New Books!

2011-04-25T14:11:00.005-04:00

Torture the artist : a novel

MacAdam/Cage Publishing, 2004

Textiles in the Art Institute of Chicago

Art Institute of Chicago, 1992

Suzanne Lacy: Spaces In Between (Sharon Irish)

University of Minnesota Press, 2010

Monografía de 598 estampas de Manuel Manilla, grabador mexicano (Manuel Manilla)

Editorial RM 2005

New Books Highlights: Exhibitions & Collections Grab Bag

2011-04-25T13:59:00.004-04:00

Art Basel Miami Beach 6-9 Dec 2007

Distributed Art Publishers, 2001

Running around the pool
Florida State University, Museum of Fine Arts, 2007

Art 21: art in the twenty-first century 5

Art21 Inc, 2009

Winfred Rembert : memories of my youth

Adelson Galleries, 2009

It's all in the fit : the work of John Chamberlain : a symposium hosted by the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas, April 22-23, 2006

Chinati Foundation, 2009

New Books Highlights: Sculpture

2011-04-25T11:55:00.006-04:00

Su-Mei Tse: Notes
Charta, 2009

When Trash Becomes Art (Lea Vergine)

Thames & Hudson, 2007

Albert Paley in the 21st century : May 1-June 27, 2010

Albert Paley Studios, 2010

Maurizio Cattelan: Is There Life Before Death?

Yale University Press, 2010

New Books Highlights: Theory and Philosophy

2011-04-25T10:55:00.005-04:00

Project Europa: Imagining the (im)possible

University of Florida, 2010

Jameson on Jameson: Conversations on cultural Marxism

Duke University Press, 2007

World War Z
Three Rivers Press 2006

Black Mountain: An Exploration in Community (Martin Duberman)

Northwestern University Press, 2009

Artists With PhDs: On the new Doctoral Degree in Studio Art (James Elkins)

New Academia Publishing, 2009

New Books Highlights: Film

2011-04-25T10:47:00.005-04:00

Abandoned Images: Film and Films End

Reaktion, 2010

Deathtripping: The Extreme Underground ( Jack Sargent)

Soft Skull Press 2008

New Books Highlights: Painting and Drawing

2011-04-25T10:32:00.007-04:00

Alfred Kubin : drawings 1897-1909

Prestel 2008

Fresh ink : ten takes on Chinese tradition

MFA Publications, 2010

An atlas of drawings : transforming chronologies

Museum of Modern Art, London, 2006

Master Drawings (Lajos Vayer)

H.N. Abrams, 1957

Chinese ink painting now

Distributed Art Publishers, 2010

New Books Highlights: Photography

2011-04-25T10:28:00.004-04:00

A Couple Ways of Doing Something

Aperture Foundation, 2006

Galleries of Friendship and Fame: a history of nineteenth-century American photograph albums

Yale University Press, 2010

New Books Highlights: Architecture

2011-04-25T10:17:00.005-04:00

Antoni Gaudi ( Rainer Zerbst)

Taschen, 2002

Actions : what you can do with the city

Canadian Center for Architecture, 2008

Automatic cities : the architectural imaginary in contemporary art

La Jolla, 2009

New Book Highlights SMFA Faculty

2011-04-25T10:12:00.005-04:00

The Image and the Witness: Trauma, Memory and Visual Culture

Featuring an article by SMFA Faculty Tina Wasserman

New Books Highlights: International Books

2011-03-24T15:38:00.004-04:00

Chocolate : pathway to the gods

University of Arizona Press, 2008

(featuring work by Jesseca Ferguson)

Amerykanskie metafory = American metaphors

Galerie Pusta 2009

Afro modern : journeys through the Black Atlantic

Abrams, 2010

Iran Inside Out: Influence of Homeland and Diaspora on the Artistic Language of Contemporary Iranian Artists

Chelsea Art Museu, 2009

OHO

Revolver, 2007

New Books Highlights: Monographs

2011-03-24T15:15:00.007-04:00

Cy Twombly : states of mind : painting, sculpture, photography, drawing

Museum Moderner Kunst, 2009

Jack Levine

Rizzoli, 1989

Paul Thek : Diver, a retrospective

Yale University Press, 2010

Boris Zaborov

Thames & Hudson, 2007

Zoran Mušič in public and private collections in Slovenia

Moderna Galerija, 2010

Four Corners Books, 2010

Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers

Distributed Art Publishers, 2010

Luanne Martineau

Museum of Contempoary Art, Montreal, 2010

Matthew Day Jackson: The Immeasurable Distance

Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 2009

Ai Wei Wei: So Sorry

Prestel, 2009

John M Armleder: Too Much is Not Enough

Kehrer, 2006

Barbara Kruger

Rizzoli 2010

New Books Highlights: Graphic Novels

2011-03-24T14:53:00.005-04:00

Underground Classics: The transformation of comics into Comix

Chazen Museum of Art 2009

Al Capp’s Li’l Abner (Al Capp)

IDW Publishing, 2010

Will Eisner’s Spirit Archives v.18 (Will Eisner)

DC Comics, 2000

The Art of Ditko (Craig Yoe)

Diamond, 2009

The Poor Bastard (Joe Matt)

Drawn and Quarterly, 2002

Inbound 4 : a comic book history of Boston

Boston Comics Roundtable, 2009

New Books Highlights: Books, Reading, Language

2011-03-14T16:55:00.000-04:00

Art and text

Black Dog Publications, 2009

The Library At Night

Yale University Press, 2009

A History of Reading

Penguin Press, 1997

New Books Highlights: Theory and Philosophy

2011-03-14T16:50:00.000-04:00

Identity & identification

Black Dog Publications, 2009

A Companion to Contemporary Art since 1945

Blackwell Publications, 2006

My So Called Freelance Life

Seal Press 2008

Doing Documentary Work

Oxford University Press, 1997

The Last Sex: feminism and outlaw bodies

St. Martin's Press, 1993

Investigating sex : surrealist research, 1928-1932

New York, Verso, 1992

Varieties of Sexual Experience: an anthropological perspective on human sexuality

HRAF Pres, 1985

New Books Highlights: Craft

2011-03-14T16:37:00.000-04:00

Road Show: Art Cars and the Museum of the Streets

Speck Press, 2009

Thinking Through Craft

Berg, 2007

Shop class as soulcraft : an inquiry into the value of work

Penguin Press, 2009

The Nature of Craft and the Penland Experience

Lark Books, 2004

Makers : a history of American studio craft

University of North Carolina Press, 2010