For more than four decades; the elusive but influential Los Angeles-based artist John Knight has developed a practice of site specificity that tests both architectural and ideological boundaries of the museum; gallery; and public sphere. Knights works defy notions of stylistic coherence; even; at times; of instant recognizability. Grounded in a sustained method of inhabiting the material; discursive and economic conditions of varied sites; his works systematically challenge notions of object; sign; context; authorship; and value; and they confront audiences not only with mailers; posters; and journals but also with carpenter levels; commemorative plates; deck chairs; bicycle bells; flower arrangements; and credit cards. This volume offers essays and interviews that trace the critical thinking on Knight; discussing the artists trajectory from 1969 to 2011. These texts; by such prominent figures as Benjamin H. D. Buchloh; Anne Rorimer; Alexander Alberro; and Birgit Pelzer; offer close readings of Knights pivotal projects in situ while also considering them in terms of such art-historical paradigms as the readymade; the anti-aesthetic; institutional critique; and the relationship between art and design as well as corporate culture at large. The book provides the first collection of these often hard-to-find texts on Knight and will serve as an essential guide for further consideration of his oeuvre.
#2053860 in eBooks 2014-03-01 2014-03-01File Name: B00IX69KP4
Review
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Song for an Under-Sung American HeroBy Kate CIn the post-dome era; Bucky Fuller has slid out of the collective consciousness. Easthams exploration of his roots in American (esp. Northeastern) thought; the echo of his ideas in ancient religions; and the clear relevance of his geometry to modern science; brings this genius back out of the woodwork. Although Easthams reading list is a LOT more extensive than mine and many of the specific references he makes are well past me; his summaries bring the many tracks and paths he follows back to coherence. His folksy; conversational writing style makes complex often academic thoughts and ideas accessible to the lay reader. The quotes of Fullers that are included make it obvious why he is not well read - he couldnt simplify his thoughts for the rest of us to understand; except by creating beautiful models like the Wholes. The appendix on Wholes alone is worth the price of the book. Concise and clear; it offers the reader a great first step into experiencing Fullers ideas for him(her)self. It takes a Fuller fan with a mind like Easthams to plum the depths and make Fuller readable for the rest of us.It seems clear to me that more scientists; designers; and engineers (maybe artists?) need to read this book and think a little harder about how to advance our mathematical systems to reflect natures ways. Nature may even cooperate and show herself more easily if we look through the correct lens.Not always easy going; but worth the effort.5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Back Cover Blurb - American DreamerBy Dr. Scott Eastham"Synergetics: The exploratory strategy of starting with the whole." (R. B. Fuller)It was in the 1940s that Buckminster Fuller developed a series of spherical models which embody and illustrate the principles of his synergetic geometry. This study of Fullers life; works; and geometrical principles describes in vigorous detail how these spherical figures reveal themselves in both natural structures - molecules; flowers; crystals; etc. - and cultural forms; especially in religious art and sacred architecture. Fullers `omnitriangulated geometry offers a key to structures of meaning and value in more than one symbolic world.The author first assesses the legacy of Fuller; scientist-artist-engineer extraordinaire; by examining how he drew his inspiration from an alternative American dream; a way of life based on cooperation rather than competition. The book then offers an enthusiastic and sympathetic portrayal of the creative science of a man whose character was as multifaceted as the geodesic domes he built.Discover why the straight lines and boxes of conventional science and maths are inadequate to model Natures spherical and cyclical patterns of growth. Explore the many startling ways in which Buckys synergetic figures appear in the ancient iconographies of the worlds great religious traditions. Open up future artistic applications of Fullers `whole systems by learning to think `outside the box."Many commentators seem to think Buckys ideas stand or fall by the success or failure of the dome-building industry. I beg to differ. I find his fundamental re-envisioning of technology as `what Nature does; and his deployment of Natures Coordinate System to be initiatives more far-reaching - and even more durable - than the domes themselves.""Ill never think of Bucky as a technocrat again." Edward Goldsmith; Founder of The Ecologist
