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Das Gesicht im Film: Von der Kulturgeschichte bis zur Instrumentalisierung in Industriefilmen des "Dritten Reichs"
by Frank Thomas MeyerDas menschliche Gesicht gilt einerseits als subtiler, „schwacher Code“, das sich im Alltag den Deutungen der menschlichen Wahrnehmung immer wieder zu entziehen scheint. Andererseits wird gerade in Medien wie dem Film das Gesicht strategische eingesetzt, um unterschwellig Botschaften zu vermitteln. Die Bild-Werdung des Menschen hat, wie diese Arbeit zeigt, nicht erst mit dem Aufkommen von Diktaturen seine „Unschuld“ verloren. Aber erst im Modus seiner Lesbarmachung, als still gestelltes Bild wie es in Form der Großaufnahme im Film zur Geltung kommt, kann es als scheinbare Evidenz seine manipulierende Funktion einnehmen.Ob in Deutschland, Italien oder Russland – alle diese Diktaturen wollen sich zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts der Arbeiterschaft versichern, um ihre ideologischen Ziele zu verwirklichen. Das kulturell und symbolisch vorgeprägte Gesicht, muss daher für die Propaganda umcodiert werden. Dem immer noch weit verbreiteten Verdikt der „Gleichschaltung“ wird jedoch in diesem Buch differenziert gegenübergetreten: Die Möglichkeiten des Gesichts, es für unterschiedlichen historischen Konstellationen und Herausforderungen anzupassen und zu instrumentalisieren, machen es zu einem facettenreichen Medium für rhetorische Strategien.
Das Theater der Elektrizität: Technologie und Spektakel im ausgehenden 19. Jahrhundert (Szene & Horizont. Theaterwissenschaftliche Studien #6)
by Ulf OttoDas Theater der Moderne gründet sich auf ästhetische Energien. Seit den 1880er Jahren aber sind es elektrische Energien, aus fossilen Brennstoffen in Kraftwerken erzeugt, die im Theater zu zirkulieren beginnen. Installiert wird eine mysteriöse Entität, die noch als Lebenskraft gehandelt wird und schon für Fortschritt durch Technik steht. Mit der Elektrifizierung des Theaters wird Elektroindustrie respektabel und Bühnenkunst modernistisch. Entsorgt werden die Kulissen, die im Scheinwerferlicht nur noch verstaubt erscheinen, und aus der Bildermaschine wird Raumkunst. Doch wichtiger sind die institutionellen Transformationen, die sich in bislang unbeachteten Koalitionen, Kontinuitäten und Konkurrenzen von technischen und ästhetischen Dingen abspielen. Ingenieurswissen, Kontrolltechniken und Versorgungssysteme ändern, wie Theater und Gesellschaft verschaltet sind. Der Interaktionsraum (zwischen-)menschlicher Leiblichkeit des 20. Jahrhunderts entpuppt sich als eine technische Konstellation.
Das Videodrama: Ein religionspädagogisches Filmprojekt im interdisziplinären Dialog (pop.religion: lebensstil – kultur – theologie)
by Julian SengelmannDas religionspädagogische und praktisch-theologische Projekt VIDEODRAMA ist ein hybrider, interdisziplinärer Ansatz, bei dem mit einer Gruppe in einem kreativen Prozess ein Film produziert wird, der im „Raum eines biblischen Textes“ entsteht. Die Teilnehmenden entwickeln diese Filmerzählung in allen Facetten einer klassischen Filmproduktion bis hin zur Premiere in einem Kino. Das VIDEODRAMA ist ein interdisziplinäres Projekt, das sich dezidiert von wissenschaftlichen Konkurrenzen und Konzeptionen loslöst. Dieses Buch begleitet exemplarisch einen solchen Prozess, entwickelt eine Theorie des VIDEODRAMAS und bringt diese mit ausgewählten aktuellen religionspädagogischen Diskussionen ins Gespräch.
Dashing to the End: The Ray Milland Story (Hollywood Legends Series)
by Eric MonderBorn Alfred Reginald John Truscott-Jones, Welsh American actor Ray Milland (1907–1986) appeared in more than 135 theatrical releases between 1929 and 1985 and on radio, television, and the stage, while also becoming a film director; Milland’s extensive canon across such a period is remarkable, especially considering his lack of formal training, his belated start in show business in his late twenties, and the fact he only lived to age seventy-nine. Perhaps best remembered for his Oscar-winning performance as the tortured alcoholic in Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945) or his outstanding collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock in Dial M for Murder (1954), there is much more to Milland’s life and career than the few films that elevated him from star to icon. Despite his prolific and successful career, Dashing to the End: The Ray Milland Story is the first comprehensive biography of the star. Milland’s personal and professional trajectory epitomize quintessential Hollywood lore: the British army soldier-turned-actor who went from unknown, struggling bit player to Oscar-winning star to aging, scandal-haunted “has-been” to comeback character actor to present-day cult figure. Using interviews with Milland’s costars and colleagues, as well as research from several major archives, author Eric Monder brings into sharp relief both the positive and negative aspects of the Hollywood film and television industries and paints a well-rounded portrait of this complex man and artist.
Date Night Ideas for Couples: Fun Ways to Connect with Your Partner for an Entertaining Night
by Angela Nicole HoltonMake date night more fun!Date nights can become a "been there, done that" ritual—but with new ways to spend time together, your dates can be full of fun and unique experiences to share with your partner. In this playful relationship book for couples, you'll find more than 80 original ideas for leveling up date night—whether you're 25 or 85.Pick an idea, make a plan—Spend your time having fun, instead of brainstorming ideas, with brief date descriptions, planning tips, and suggested conversation starters.Shake up your dates—Grow closer as a couple with alternatives to your average date nights, including going on a lover's hike, taking a virtual cooking class, and writing a bedtime story together.Designed for any budget—Many of these dates only require your time, energy, and imagination in order to enjoy more quality time together.Keep your relationship fresh with this delightful book of date night ideas.
Dating Amy: 50 True Confessions of a Serial Dater
by Amy DezellarDating today can seem like Alices tumble down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. Whether starting out or starting again, women face the difficult task of sorting through the good (guy), the bad (boy), and the ugly (morning after) in their search for Mr. Right. Here to give hope to smart single women everywhere is Amy DeZellar, who bravely dedicated two years of her life to debunking common dating myths and documenting 50 of her dates. Shes gone wine-tasting with Indentured Cats, on a blind date who also happens to be blind, and found her artistic sentiments at odds with her desire for financial security when she simultaneously got involved with a painter named Harry Potter and a NASA super-computer designer named Teflon, all in her quest to find true love. Each of the 50 chapters in this book is dedicated to a different date, and includes the kinds of tips and sharp observations that only someone on the front lines can offer. Get ready to laugh, cry, and commiserate with Amyand learn, as she did, a few things about finding the perfect man.
Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman
by Mallory O'MearaFrom Los Angeles Times bestselling author Mallory O'Meara, the exhilarating story of America's first professional stuntwoman, Helen Gibson, who worked during a time when women ruled Hollywood Helen Gibson was willing to do anything to give audiences a thrill. Advertised as &“The Most Daring Actress in Pictures,&” Helen emerged in the early days of the twentieth-century silent film scene as a rodeo rider, producer, performer and stunt double for iconic stars of the era. Her exploits were as dangerous as they were glamorous, featured in hundreds of films and serials—yet her legacy was quickly overshadowed by the increasingly hypermasculine and male-dominated evolution of action films in the decades that would follow her. In this fast-paced and feminist biography, award-winning author Mallory O'Meara presents Helen&’s life and career in exhilarating detail, including:• Helen&’s rise to fame in The Hazards of Helen, the longest-running serial in history • How Helen became the first-ever stuntwoman in American film • The pivotal and overlooked role of Helen&’s contemporaries—including female directors, stars and stuntwomen who shaped the making of narrative film. Through the page-turning story of Helen&’s pioneering legacy, Mallory O'Meara gives readers a glimpse of the Golden Age of Hollywood that could have been: an industry where women call the shots.
Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong's Rendezvous with American History
by Yunte HuangOne of the Atlantic's "Books to Get Lost in This Summer" Best Books of August 2023: New York Times Book Review, Christian Science Monitor, InsideHook, BookRiot, WNET AllArts, Arlington Magazine A trenchant reclamation of the Chinese American movie star, whose battles against cinematic exploitation and endemic racism are set against the currents of twentieth-century history. Born into the steam and starch of a Chinese laundry, Anna May Wong (1905–1961) emerged from turn-of-the-century Los Angeles to become Old Hollywood’s most famous Chinese American actress, a screen siren who captivated global audiences and signed her publicity photos—with a touch of defiance—“Orientally yours.” Now, more than a century after her birth, Yunte Huang narrates Wong’s tragic life story, retracing her journey from Chinatown to silent-era Hollywood, and from Weimar Berlin to decadent, prewar Shanghai, and capturing American television in its infancy. As Huang shows, Wong’s rendezvous with history features a remarkable parade of characters, including a smitten Walter Benjamin and (an equally smitten) Marlene Dietrich. Challenging the parodically racist perceptions of Wong as a “Dragon Lady,” “Madame Butterfly,” or “China Doll,” Huang’s biography becomes a truly resonant work of history that reflects the raging anti-Chinese xenophobia, unabashed sexism, and ageism toward women that defined both Hollywood and America in Wong’s all-too-brief fifty-six years on earth.
Dave Barry in Cyberspace
by Dave Barry"RELENTLESSLY FUNNY . . . BARRY SHINES." --People. A self-professed computer geek who actually does Windows 95, bestselling humorist Dave Barry takes us on a hilarious hard drive via the information superhighway--and into the very heart of cyberspace, asking the provocative question: If God had wanted us to be concise, why give us so many fonts? Inside you'll find juicy bytes on How to Buy and Set Up a Computer; Step One: Get Valium Nerdstock in the Desert; Or: Bill Gates Is Elvis Software: Making Your Computer Come Alive So It Can Attack You Word Processing: How to Press an Enormous Number of Keys Without Ever Actually Writing Anything Selected Web Sites, including Cursing in Swedish, Deformed Frog Pictures, and The Toilets of Melbourne, Australia And much, much more! "VERY FUNNY ... After a day spent staring at a computer monitor, think of the book as a kind of screen saver for your brain." --New York Times Book Review
Dave Barry's Bad Habits: A 100% Fact-free Book
by Dave BarryIf you're not already acquainted--nay, infatuated--with the works of the man who the New York Times calls "the funniest man in America," you can get cracking right now with this all-time favorite collection of Dave Barry's humor columns. Dave Barry's Bad Habits won't rot your teeth, cause your insurance premiums to go up, or make your kids go cross-eyed if they sit too close to it. It will, however, make you laugh so hard your middle actually moves (the best exercise, and possibly the only kind you'll be interested in after forty). Here, preserved for all time, are Barry's profoundest musings on such topics as how to get kids to stop smoking (eliminate tenth grade), what to do if your car is making loud noises (turn up the radio), and a solution to the battle of the sexes (let the men do housework, say, for the next six thousand years to even things up). Together they serve to expose the little insanities of everyday life and assure us that we're not completely alone in a world gone mad.
Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs
by Dave BarryBased on the results from Dave Barry's monumental survey, Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs is a compilation of some of the worst songs ever written, including such special categories as Teen Death Songs, Songs That People Always Get Wrong.
Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs
by Dave BarryThe humorist asked his readers to share their least favorite tunes and chronicles the hilarious responses.When funnyman Dave Barry asked readers about their least favorite tunes, he thought he was penning just another installment of his weekly syndicated humor column. But the witty writer was flabbergasted by the response when over 10,000 readers voted. “I have never written a column that got a bigger response than the one announcing the Bad Song Survey,” Barry wrote.Based on the results of the survey, Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs is a compilation of some of the worst songs ever written. Dave Barry fans will relish his quirky take. Music buffs too will appreciate this humorous stroll through the world’s worst lyrics. The only thing wrong with this book is that readers will find themselves unable to stop mentally singing the greatest hits of Gary Puckett.Praise for Dave Barry’s Book of Bad Songs“Barry is his usual puckish self, but the real surprise here is how funny many of the survey respondents are.” —Kirkus Reviews“Who can resist such a book?” —Publishers Weekly
Dave Barry's Claw Your Way To The Top: How To Become The Head Of A Major Corporation In Roughly A Week
by Dave Barry Jerry O'BrienWorking up the corporate ladder is all well and good for most people, but you are not "most people." You are a highly motivated individual who wants to be on the fast track, and you cannot afford to fritter away valuable time working diligently and competently on the job. You need Dave Barry's surefire tips in Claw Your Way to the Top!<P> * "A good resume is more than just a piece of paper. It can mean the difference between not getting a job and not even coming close."<P> * "Can you get a job in business? Heck yes! Don't you listen to those Negative Nellies who tell you there aren't any good jobs anymore, just because the steel, automobile, shoe, clothing, railroad, and agricultural industries have all collapsed!"<P> * "I don't mean to suggest for a moment that all it takes to be a top executive is a custom-tailored European suit. You also need the correct shirt and tie."<P> * "Remember, your subordinates are not machines. They are human beings with the same dreams as you. OK, maybe not all the same dreams. Probably they don't have the one where you're naked in a vat of Yoo-Hoo with the Soviet gymnastics team."<P> * "Ask any business school professor, and he'll tell you a good memo is clear, concise, and well-organized. Now ask him what his annual salary is. It's probably less than most top executives spend in a month on shoe maintenance."
Dave Barry's Money Secrets: Like: Why Is There a Giant Eyeball on the Dollar?
by Dave BarryDid you ever wish that you really understood money? Well, Dave Barry wishes that he did, too. But that hasn't stopped him from writing this book. In it, Dave explores (as only he can) such topics as: * How the U. S. economy works, including the often overlooked role of Adam Sandler * Why it is not a good idea to use squirrels for money * Strategies that will give you the confidence you need to try for a good job, even though you are--let's be honest--a no-talent loser * How corporate executives, simply by walking into their offices, immediately become much stupider * An absolutely foolproof system for making money in the stock market, requiring only a little effort (and access to time travel) * Surefire tips for buying and selling real estate, the key being: Never buy--or, for that matter, sell--real estate * How to minimize your federal taxes, safely and legally, by cheating * Why good colleges cost so much, and how to make sure your child does not get into one * How to reduce the cost of your medical care by basically not getting any * Estate planning, especially the financial benefits of an early death * And many, many pictures of Suze Orman But that's only the beginning! Dave has also included in this book all of the important points from a book written by Donald Trump, so you don't have to read it yourself. Plus he explains how to tip, how to negotiate for everything (including bridge tolls), how to argue with your spouse about money, and how much allowance to give your children (three dollars is plenty). He also presents, for the first time in print anywhere, the Car Dealership Code of Ethics ("Ethic Seven: The customer is an idiot"). Also, there are many gratuitous references to Angelina Jolie naked. You can't afford not to buy this book! Probably you need several copies. What kind of financial shape are you in right now? This scientific quiz will show you. Be honest in your answers: If you lie, you'll only be lying to yourself! The place to lie is on your federal tax return. What is your annual income? 1. More than $50,000. 2. Less than $50,000. 3. However much I get when I return these empties. Not counting your mortgage, how much money do you currently owe? 1. Less than $10,000. 2. More than $10,000. 3. Men are threatening to cut off my thumbs. How would you describe your portfolio? 1. Conservative, mainly bonds and blue-chip equities. 2. Aggressive, mainly options and speculative stocks. 3. My what? When analyzing an investment, what do you consider to be the most important factor? 1. The amount of return. 2. The degree of risk. 3. The name of the jockey. How do you plan to finance your retirement? 1. Savings. 2. Social security. 3. Sale of kidneys. --from the Introduction: "Why You Need This Book".
Dave Brubeck: A Life In Time
by Philip ClarkWINNER OF THE PRESTO JAZZ BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020An articulate, scrupulously researched account based on first-hand information, this book presents Brubeck's contribution to music with the critical insight that it deserves - ***** BBC Music Magazine This is the writing about jazz that we've been waiting for - Mike WestbrookThe sheer descriptive verve, page after page, made me want to listen to every single musical example cited. A major achievement - Stephen Hough'Definitive . . . remarkable. Clark writes intelligently and joyously.' - MojoIn 2003, music journalist Philip Clark was granted unparalleled access to jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Over the course of ten days, he shadowed the Dave Brubeck Quartet during their extended British tour, recording an epic interview with the bandleader. Brubeck opened up as never before, disclosing his unique approach to jazz; the heady days of his 'classic' quartet in the 1950s-60s; hanging out with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis; and the many controversies that had dogged his 66-year-long career.Alongside beloved figures like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, Brubeck's music has achieved name recognition beyond jazz. But finding a convincing fit for Brubeck's legacy, one that reconciles his mass popularity with his advanced musical technique, has proved largely elusive. In Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time, Clark provides us with a thoughtful, thorough, and long-overdue biography of an extraordinary man whose influence continues to inform and inspire musicians today.Structured around Clark's extended interview and intensive new research, this book tells one of the last untold stories of jazz, unearthing the secret history of 'Take Five' and many hitherto unknown aspects of Brubeck's early career - and about his creative relationship with his star saxophonist Paul Desmond. Woven throughout are cameo appearances from a host of unlikely figures from Sting, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, and Keith Emerson, to John Cage, Leonard Bernstein, Harry Partch, and Edgard Varèse. Each chapter explores a different theme or aspect of Brubeck's life and music, illuminating the core of his artistry and genius.
Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time
by Philip ClarkThe definitive, investigative biography of jazz legend Dave Brubeck ("Take Five")In 2003, music journalist Philip Clark was granted unparalleled access to jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Over the course of ten days, he shadowed the Dave Brubeck Quartet during their extended British tour, recording an epic interview with the bandleader. Brubeck opened up as never before, disclosing his unique approach to jazz; the heady days of his "classic" quartet in the 1950s-60s; hanging out with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis; and the many controversies that had dogged his 66-year-long career. Alongside beloved figures like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, Brubeck's music has achieved name recognition beyond jazz. But finding a convincing fit for Brubeck's legacy, one that reconciles his mass popularity with his advanced musical technique, has proved largely elusive. In Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time, Clark provides us with a thoughtful, thorough, and long-overdue biography of an extraordinary man whose influence continues to inform and inspire musicians today. Structured around Clark's extended interview and intensive new research, this book tells one of the last untold stories of jazz, unearthing the secret history of "Take Five" and many hitherto unknown aspects of Brubeck's early career - and about his creative relationship with his star saxophonist Paul Desmond. Woven throughout are cameo appearances from a host of unlikely figures from Sting, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, and Keith Emerson, to John Cage, Leonard Bernstein, Harry Partch, and Edgard Varèse. Each chapter explores a different theme or aspect of Brubeck's life and music, illuminating the core of his artistry and genius. To quote President Obama, as he awarded the musician with a Kennedy Center Honor: "You can't understand America without understanding jazz, and you can't understand jazz without understanding Dave Brubeck."
Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time
by Philip ClarkThe definitive, investigative biography of jazz legend Dave Brubeck.In 2003, music journalist Philip Clark was granted unparalleled access to jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Over the course of ten days, he shadowed the Dave Brubeck Quartet during their extended British tour, recording an epic interview with the bandleader. Brubeck opened up as never before, disclosing his unique approach to jazz; the heady days of his 'classic' quartet in the 1950s-60s; hanging out with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, and Miles Davis; and the many controversies that had dogged his 66-year-long career.Alongside beloved figures like Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, Brubeck's music has achieved name recognition beyond jazz. But finding a convincing fit for Brubeck's legacy, one that reconciles his mass popularity with his advanced musical technique, has proved largely elusive. In Dave Brubeck: A Life in Time, Clark provides us with a thoughtful, thorough, and long-overdue biography of an extraordinary man whose influence continues to inform and inspire musicians today.Structured around Clark's extended interview and intensive new research, this book tells one of the last untold stories of jazz, unearthing the secret history of 'Take Five' and many hitherto unknown aspects of Brubeck's early career - and about his creative relationship with his star saxophonist Paul Desmond. Woven throughout are cameo appearances from a host of unlikely figures from Sting, Ray Manzarek of The Doors, and Keith Emerson, to John Cage, Leonard Bernstein, Harry Partch, and Edgard Varèse. Each chapter explores a different theme or aspect of Brubeck's life and music, illuminating the core of his artistry and genius.(P) 2020 Hachette Audio
Dave Hill Doesn't Live Here Anymore
by Dave HillWith his signature matter-of-fact humor, comedian and musician Dave Hill explores his increasingly close relationship with his recently widowed father in a series of painfully funny essays you will want to read again and again by the fire, at the beach, in a truck stop men's room, or just about anywhere. It's your call, really.These days, Dave has just the right amount of spare time to write books at home, preferably in his underwear, but things weren't always perfect. When he found himself pushing thirty while still living with his parents in Cleveland, unsuited for anything but what an "employment expert" vaguely called a career in "art, music, writing, or entertainment," he decided to visit some friends in New York for the weekend and never left. However, getting his life together wasn't as easy as he'd hoped, and even an illegally subletted, rent controlled fifth-floor walk-up studio apartment with a (for the most part) working toilet wasn't glamorous enough to erase the fact that his four siblings were all married with steady jobs and actual human offspring. And in recent years, Dave's father had grown tired of loaning him cash and living alone in the empty family home, neither of which made much sense to Dave, but whatever.Through the process of his father's eventual move to a retirement community, Dave and his dad bonded over the things in life that really matter: scorching-hot rock jams, the gluten allergy craze, eighteen-wheelers, Italian food (pizza and spaghetti), and whatever else could possibly be left after that. Meanwhile, Dave discovered his late-blooming manhood via experiences as disparate and dangerous as a visit to a remote Mexican prison, where he learned that people everywhere love the Eagles, and a martial arts class that pushed his resolve and his groin to their limit. In Dave Hill Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Hill's voice is sharp, carefree, laced with just the right amount of profanity, and he is--seemingly despite himself--deeply empathetic as he portrays a difficult time in his family's life and grows up just enough to realize that maybe he and his dad aren't so different after all.
David Bowie (Lives of the Musicians)
by Robert DimeryA relentless innovator, scoring chart hits while simultaneously incorporating radical and ground-breaking elements into his work.As with all great pop stars, Bowie's image changed with almost every new album release. This appetite for reinvention, both musically and visually, saw him dubbed the 'chameleon of pop'. But Bowie's influence extended well beyond his discography and make-up drawer. His androgynous qualities and public statements on his sexuality proved liberating for those who were uncertain about their own. Lives of the Musicians: David Bowie covers the years he spent struggling to find the right artistic outlet to the dramatic breakthrough in 1972 with Ziggy Stardust - and afterwards, the excessive lifestyle that nearly cost him his sanity. It continues with his artistic rebirth in Berlin during the late Seventies, the mainstream success he achieved with Let's Dance in 1983 and the artistic price that he paid for it.
David Bowie (Lives of the Musicians)
by Robert DimeryA relentless innovator, scoring chart hits while simultaneously incorporating radical and ground-breaking elements into his work.As with all great pop stars, Bowie's image changed with almost every new album release. This appetite for reinvention, both musically and visually, saw him dubbed the 'chameleon of pop'. But Bowie's influence extended well beyond his discography and make-up drawer. His androgynous qualities and public statements on his sexuality proved liberating for those who were uncertain about their own. Lives of the Musicians: David Bowie covers the years he spent struggling to find the right artistic outlet to the dramatic breakthrough in 1972 with Ziggy Stardust - and afterwards, the excessive lifestyle that nearly cost him his sanity. It continues with his artistic rebirth in Berlin during the late Seventies, the mainstream success he achieved with Let's Dance in 1983 and the artistic price that he paid for it.
David Bowie Outlaw: Essays on Difference, Authenticity, Ethics, Art & Love
by Alex SharpeThis book explores the relevance of David Bowie’s life and music for contemporary legal and cultural theory. Focusing on the artist and artworks of David Bowie, this book brings to life, in essay form, particular theoretical ideas, creative methodologies and ethical debates that have contemporary relevance within the fields of law, social theory, ethics and art. What unites the essays presented here is that they all point to a beyond law: to the fact that law is not enough, or to be more precise, too much, too much to bear. For those who, like Bowie, see art, creativity and love as what ought to be the central organising principles of life, law will not do. In the face of its certainties, its rigidities, and its conceits, these essays, through Bowie, call forth the monster who laughs at the law, celebrate inauthenticity as a deeper truth, explore the ethical limits of art, cut up the laws of writing and embrace that which is most antithetical to law, love. This original engagement with the limits of law will appeal to those working in legal theory, ethics and law and popular culture, as well as in art and cultural studies.
David Bowie and Film: Hooked to the Silver Screen
by Stephen GlynnThis book constitutes the first monograph dedicated to an academic analysis of David Bowie’s appearances in film. Through close textual analysis together with production and reception histories, Bowie’s ‘silver screen’ career is explored in full. The book covers performance documentaries such as Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, star vehicles ranging from the eulogised The Man Who Fell to Earth to the excoriated Just a Gigolo, plus roles from the horror chic of The Hunger and cult fantasy of Labyrinth to the valiant high-brow Baal and vainglorious high-budget Absolute Beginners, ending with Bowie as Bowie in Bandslam and others as ‘Bowie’ in Velvet Goldmine and Stardust. Alongside showing his willingness to experiment (and at times fail) across a variety of genres, this study investigates Bowie’s performative style that, while struggling to accommodate the requirements of cinematic realism, fits more harmoniously with alternative production codes and aesthetics. More broadly, by exploring the commercial, socio-cultural and ideological significance of Bowie on film, the book demonstrates how notions of gender, sexuality and identity formation, plus commodity and cultural capital, function and fluctuate in contemporary society.
David Bowie and Philosophy: Rebel, Rebel
by Theodore G. AmmonAmong the topics explored in David Bowie and Philosophy are the nature of Bowie as an institution; Bowie's work in many platforms, including movies and TV; Bowie's spanning of low and high art, and his relation to Warhol; the influence of Buddhism and Kabuki theater; the recurring theme of Bowie as a space alien, including "Space Oddity" and The Man Who Fell to Earth; the dystopian element in Bowie's thinking, displayed in "1984" and the album Outside; the role of fashion in Bowie's creativity; personal identity as preserved over various divergent personae; the aesthetics of theatrical rock and glam rock; Bowie's public identification with bisexuality and his influence within the LGBTQ community.Pervasive themes in Bowie's output include change, time, apocalypse, dancing, mind-body dualism, and spirituality. In the dualistic universe that undergirds his lyrics, body consistently wins over mind, but body is nevertheless on the hook of moral responsibility. There is thus an inherent tension: the overwhelming desires of bodily drives versus the repressive institutions such as church and the omnipresent "They" who would have us do otherwise than our body want. The emergent paradox in Bowie is that for all his alleged sexual indulgences, in the end mind trumps body.
David Bowie and Romanticism (Palgrave Studies in Music and Literature)
by James RoviraDavid Bowie and Romanticism evaluates Bowie’s music, film, drama, and personae alongside eighteenth- and nineteenth-century poets, novelists, and artists. These chapters expand our understanding of both the literature studied as well as Bowie’s music, exploring the boundaries of reason and imagination, and of identity, gender, and genre. This collection uses the conceptual apparata and historical insights provided by the study of Romanticism to provide insight into identity formation, drawing from Romantic theories of self to understand Bowie’s oeuvre and periods of his career. The chapters discuss key themes in Bowie’s work and analyze what Bowie has to teach us about Romantic art and literature as well.
David Bowie: A Life
by Dylan JonesDylan Jones's engrossing, magisterial biography of David Bowie is unlike any Bowie story ever written. Drawn from over 180 interviews with friends, rivals, lovers and collaborators, some of whom have never before spoken about their relationship with Bowie, this oral history weaves a hypnotic spell as it unfolds the story of a remarkable rise to stardom and an unparalleled artistic path. Tracing Bowie's life from the English suburbs to London to New York to Los Angeles, Berlin and beyond, its collective voices describe a man profoundly shaped by his relationship with his schizophrenic half-brother Terry; an intuitive artist who could absorb influences through intense relationships and yet drop people cold when they were no longer of use; and a social creature equally comfortable partying with John Lennon and dining with Frank Sinatra. By turns insightful and deliciously gossipy, David Bowie is as intimate a portrait as may ever be drawn. It sparks with admiration and grievances, lust and envy, as the speakers bring you into studios and bedrooms they shared with Bowie, and onto stages and film sets, opening corners of his mind and experience that transform our understanding of both artist and art. Including illuminating, never-before-seen material from Bowie himself, drawn from a series of Jones's interviews with him across two decades, David Bowie is an epic, unforgettable cocktail-party conversation about a man whose enigmatic shapeshifting and irrepressible creativity produced one of the most sprawling, fascinating lives of our time.