Devices of Wonder: From the World in a Box to Images on a Screen

Stafford, Barbara Maria; Terpak, Frances; Poggi, Isotta

ISBN 10: 0892365900 / ISBN 13: 9780892365906

Published by Getty Trust Publications: Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities, 2001

About this Item

*Flash Sale* 30% OFF* ENDS 7/19 -Unmarked text. Extensively illustrated. 405p. Measures 7x10 inches. Catalog for November 13, 2001 through February 6, 2002 exhibition. Explores the artful machines humans have used to augment visual perception. Includes android automata, lunar landscapes, perspective theaters, vues d'optique, microscopes, magnetic games, magic lanterns, camera obscuras, Joseph Cornell boxes, Lucas Samaras's Mirrored Room, Suzanne Anker's Zoosemiotics, James Turrell, Kara Walker, and more.

Seller Inventory # 36403

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Devices of Wonder: From the World in a Box to Images on a Screen
• Publisher: Getty Trust Publications: Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and the Humanities
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0892365900
• ISBN 13: 9780892365906
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 46 ounces
• Seller catalogs:
  • Art Sci Tech

About this title

Synopsis

An inquiry into emergent media's rich lineage, Devices of Wonder explores the artful machines humans have used to augment visual perception.
The encyclopedic cabinet of curiosities serves as a model for this study of the archaic instruments lurking in state-of-the art technology. Featured in Devices of Wonder are android automata, lunar landscapes, perspective theaters, vues d'optique, microscopes, magnetic games, magic lanterns, camera obscuras, boxes by Joseph Cornell, Lucas Samaras's Mirrored Room, Suzanne Anker's Zoosemiotics, Mark Tilden's UniBug 3.1, panoramic works by Jeff Wall and Giovanni Lusieri, paintings by Jean-Baptiste Chardin and Joseph Wright of Derby, projections by Diana Thater and James Turrell, and a pop-up book by Kara Walker.
Barbara Stafford's introduction weaves these fascinating artifacts into a provocative narrative analyzing the complex links between old and new media. Her wide-ranging investigation is complemented by thirty-one short essays in which Frances Terpak tracks the often surprising connections among individual items. Like the cabinet of curiosities, Devices of Wonder functions as an analogical instrument, reframing the beautiful "eye machines" that continue to mediate our encounters with the world.
This book is published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Getty Museum from November 13, 2001, through February 6, 2002.

About the Author

Barbara Maria Stafford is William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. Frances Terpak is curator of photographs at the Getty Research Institute. Isotta Poggi is research associate at the Getty Research Institute.