In the Realm of the Circuit: Computers, Art, and Culture [Hardcover]

Charles H. Traub (Author), Jonathan Lipkin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 013093674X | ISBN-13: 978-0130936745 | Publication Date: March 12, 2003 | Edition: 1st

Broad in scope, this book provides a clear introduction to both the aesthetics and historical precedents of the multi-faceted dialog of which electronic multimedia is the latest incarnation. It tells the story of how technology has always been integrally connected to human expression—and gives users the tools to connect their technological practice to their cultural heritage. Chapter topics explain the foundations of digital culture, Metafora, the language of structure, the communication between individuals and civilization, and the creative interlocutor. For creative people in all of the arts.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Broad in scope, this book provides a clear introduction to both the aesthetics and historical precedents of the multi-faceted dialog of which electronic multimedia is the latest incarnation. It tells the story of how technology has always been integrally connected to human expression—and gives users the tools to connect their technological practice to their cultural heritage. Chapter topics explain the foundations of digital culture, Metafora, the language of structure, the communication between individuals and civilization, and the creative interlocutor. For creative people in all of the arts.

About the Author

Mr. Traub is Chair of the Graduate MFA Program in Photography and Related Media, School of Visual Arts in New York City, the largest independent college of art in the United States. He received his masters of Science from the institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology and A Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois. He is also principal of Charles H. Traub Photography, a consulting photographic firm, and was formerly the director of The Light Gallery. He is President of Tecota (Technology Conservatory of America), a non-profit organization for support of humanities and technology and President of the Aaron Siskind Foundation for support of creative photography. He is one of the co founders of the organization and exhibition Here Is New York . He has had numerous one-person exhibitions including Marcus Pfeifer Gallery, Van Straaten Gallery, Art Directors Guild of New York, Chicago Center for Contemporary Photography, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Hudson River Museum. Mr. Traub has authored and edited many books including Beach, Italy Observed, and Anglers Album, and has had his work published in Connoisseur, Fortune, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, American Photographer, Popular Photography, Aperture, and Afterimage. He has received awards from the New York State Council on the Arts, Hendrecks Foundation, Illinois Art Council, Manda Foundation, and Olympics Arts Organization Committee. His new book In the Realm of Circuit is due from Prentice Hall in the fall of 2002

Jonathan Lipkin is associate professor of digital media at Ramapo College of New Jersey, consistently ranked one of the Northeast's best public liberal arts colleges, and on the graduate faculty of the School of Visual Arts' Computer Art and Photography and Related Media programs. He received his master of fine arts from the School of Visual Arts and his bachelor of arts from Wesleyan University. As a photographer his work has appeared in many newspapers and magazines from the New York Times to Hip Hop Connection, and been exhibited across the country in public spaces like the Port Authority of New York and in exhibitions such as Imaging/Aging. His writing has appeared in many academic journals, and he has been a columnist for electronic publications such as the ASCI newsletter. His book In the Realm of the Circuit is due from Prentice-Hall in the Fall of 2002, and his book Digital Art and Design: Photography is due from Harry N. Abrams in Spring 2003. As a designer, he created the first web art exhibited by New York's prestigious PS1 museum. He has lectured across the country and internationally on issues of digital media.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1st edition (March 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013093674X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130936745
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,673,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not since Marshall McLuhan, May 6, 2003

By 

James H. Schwartz (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Realm of the Circuit: Computers, Art, and Culture (Hardcover)

Not since Marshall McLuhan has so excellent a discussion of how the medium becomes the message appeared! It starts with a timeline of discoveries and key or symptomatic events: for example, 7000-3000 BCE, the beginning of civilization; 1661, the establishment of a postal service in the American colonies; 1790, the adoption by the British navy of Admiral Sir Home Rigg's secret flag code; 1863, sending a fax message from London to Liverpool; 1947, the replacement of vacuum tubes by transistors, with much in between.

Then gesture, sound, image and word is explored in a moderate postmodern manner, concentrating on the distinction between analog and digital. The authors next post a challenging quote: "The computer is the single most important invention since fire," and then seriously evaluate how true it is by discussing the invention's interaction with reality, art, space and time.

The book ends with a list of key people and important places and things. For flavor, the list begins with Akbar, the great Mughal emperor, and ends with the urban designer, Lily Yeh.

"In the Realm of the Circuit" is full of fresh, new images that appropriately illustrate the text. It can be read for pleasure as well as serve as a textbook for an undergraduate course.

James H. Schwartz
Professor