Lagrange a good theory intro?

[Mark Sampson]

Rick,
I'll suggest Geoff Dyer's "The Ongoing Moment". Not the academic approach you seem to be looking for, but it's enjoyable, indeed fascinating, and quite thought-provoking to boot.

[falth j]

Not to change horses in the middle of your stream:

Rick "happy to hear other suggestions, of course" Denney

but, I've wanted a book reader and have been reluctant up until I had the chance to use the more expensive ipad- which through available apps, run's circles of useability around the dedicated readers, for $800 bucks and change it's more expensive but in my mind more useable...

I particular like the dragon naturally speaking app for the ipad, truely amazing performance right out of the box, allowing you to do anything from send emails to dictate words and numbers into nearly any application where you can place a cursor, all without typing or touching a keyboard..


Went to a conference, and I was amazed at the number of people hauling out ipads, certainly a revolution happening in front of these old eyes..

[rdenney]

but, I've wanted a book reader and have been reluctant up until I had the chance to use the more expensive ipad- which through available apps, run's circles of useability around the dedicated readers, for $800 bucks and change it's more expensive but in my mind more useable...

Several points: 1. Visa wanted to eat about ten times as many points for an iPad as for a Kindle. I didn't have nearly enough.

2. I have and use an iPhone and most of the apps that make the iPad a versatile tool are already on my iPhone. I am required to carry a phone--I don't have to carry a reader. I would have to carry the phone even if I had an iPad, which means I'd have to buy most of those apps twice (not to mention the data plan which most of those apps require--see below).

3. The eInk display technology of the Kindle is easily readable in direct sunlight as well as dim light, and can be lit with one tiny LED built into the case. It's no good for anything else, but it's purpose-built for reading. The iPad's LCD screen has to be backlit, which is too bright in dark conditions, too dim in sunlight, and it eats batteries. Which brings me to:

4. An iPad has to be charged every day and if you use it as a general reader, a couple of times a day. Forget reading a whole novel on a coast-to-coast flight without searching for a charger during the layover in Chicago (or Dallas, or Atlanta, or Denver, depending on your airline). The Kindle's battery goes for weeks on a charge because the display is not backlit and does not require any power at all except when the page display is actually changing.

5. The Kindle is quite a bit lighter than an iPad, and can be held like a paperback.

7. It's easier for me to move the PDF's and Word files I have to review to my Kindle than it is to put them on my iPhone and I presume an iPad. The Kindle looks like a remote disk when attached to the computer--it does not require iTunes for the connection the way the iPhone does.

8. Biggest of all--the Kindle's data connection (AT&T 3G--same as my iPhone) is included in the price, and there are no continuing charges. It doesn't have the usefulness of the iPad, but it's good enough to read web-based articles, and the books and subscriptions I buy download to it automatically and without additional cost.

Rick "who was sold by watching a guy in the next seat on a flight reading the WSJ" Denney

[falth j]

Denny rick,

nice summary illuminating the differences and your preferences...

[paulr]

We might be setting a record for levels of abstraction:

1. "reality"
2. art
3. criticism of art
4. theories of criticism of art
5. devices for reading theories of criticism of art
6. theories of devices for reading theories of criticism of art

[Brian Ellis]

I had to read Barthes, Sontag and Berger when I returned to school (College of Fine Arts). I found all of them interesting and they certainly provided plenty of food for thought. But when I finished I felt like a lot of people say they feel about having served in the Army - I'm glad I did it but I wouldn't want to do it again.

Szarkowski is a whole different deal, I love his writing and have all his books, which I read and re-read and re-re-read all the time.

I just received George Barr's book mentioned by Brian K yesterday. I've only read the first couple entries so I'm withholding judgment but so far I've found it a little disappointing, perhaps because I was expecting another version of Szarkowski's "Looking At Photographs" and it's not that.

The only book I can think of along the lines of the books you mention and that I not only got a lot out of but also enjoyed reading is "Criticizing Photographs - An Introduction To Understanding Images" by Terry Barrett (ISBN 0-87484-906-3). The blurb on the back says that the book "helps students of photography increase their understanding and appreciation of photographs by applying the principles of criticism. [It] provides a framework for critically considering photographs through describing, interpreting, evaluating, and theorizing." I think that's a fair summary of the book.

[rdenney]

We might be setting a record for levels of abstraction:

1. "reality"
2. art
3. criticism of art
4. theories of criticism of art
5. devices for reading theories of criticism of art
6. theories of devices for reading theories of criticism of art

Heh.

Rick "that's an abstraction for laughter" Denney

[AF-ULF]

We might be setting a record for levels of abstraction:


6. theories of devices for reading theories of criticism of art

Actually, I do have a recommendation on the last point. Seriously.

Nicholas Carr: The Shallows--What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.

[rdenney]

Thanks all. So far, nobody has said "I read la Grange and it is absolute garbage" so I think I'll give it a try. Many have said variations of "This author was lousy but I really liked that author". That will be a later phase of my self-education, to the extent that my curiosity holds up. I was just hoping this one would give me a sense of that has been written on the topic, not necessarily instruction on how to do theory or criticism. (And certainly not on how to make photographs.)

Rick "looking for a survey" Denney

[paulr]

After re-reading the thread, I realize it hasn't been entirely clear what we're talking about with the term "theory." When I hear the word in an art or literary context, I immediately assume it means a theory of criticism ... in other words, a context for understanding how we interpret a work. Or put another way, what assumptions and methods are we using when looking at or critiquing something—and what are the capabilities and limitations afforded by these.

In this sense, Berger's "Ways of Seeing" (which I like) is a theory book. His topic is a particular take on Marxist Criticism and theory in the context of Western painting and photography

Szarkowski's "Looking at Photographs" (which I love) is overtly a book of criticism, in that his stated subject is individual photographs. But it's covertly a book of theory, in that he demonstrates 150 different approaches to criticism. By the time you get through the book you realize that no two images have been critiqued with precisely the same methodology— the subject of the book is really "Looking," while "Photographs" are just the medium.

Szarkowski is sneaky about this. In his friendly, paternal way, he keeps our gaze directed at the pictures, even when he slips in ideas. And he never mentions any theories by name, or directly compares and contrasts them.

I also get the sense that Szarkowski's mastery of theory extended to the ideas of the 1970s or so, but not much beyond. The post-structuralist and postmodern ideas of the late 70s and onward didn't enter his critical or curatorial vocabulary. I would love it someone as articulate has him would emerge to shed light on the newer ideas, but I haven't found anyone.