Chromophobia

The list of phobias is rather extensive and exhaustive, ranging from the fear of sitting down (kathisophobia) to the fear of relatives (syngenesophobia). A lot of phobias probably seem a little ridiculous (like the ones I mentioned), but the title phobia of David Batchelor's book, Chromophobia, is a fear that afflicts more people than you would think.

By definition, chromophobia is the fear of colors. In a series of essays, Batchelor explores Western culture's aesthetic propensity in avoiding the use of color, a trend that he disagrees with, evinced by book's brightly colored cover. Batchelor is thoughtful in his argument, drawing references from Herman Melville's "great white whale," Le Corbusier's architecture, and galleries' use of white space, among others.

Well-written and concise, Chromophobia is a fun delve into art theory.

Formless: A User's Guide

For anyone interested in modern art, Formless should be the textbook of choice. Authors Yve-Alain Bois and Rosalind E. Krauss introduce a range of concepts in understanding avant-garde and modernist art practices. They further explore the term, informe, originally developed by Georges Bataille, arguing for its importance in twentieth-century culture. Especially now, when art is appreciated aside from its formal mastery, the re-conceptualization of the modern world of art in terms of the formless makes for a fascinating read. This book has me thinking about Jackson Pollock or Claes Oldenburg from a completely new perspective.

Towards an Architecture

I’ve been really into architecture lately, doing a lot of reading related to the art of architecture. 

For the most part, we associate architect Le Corbusier with his modernist home, the Villa Savoye.  However, he is also the author of the seminal book, Towards an Architecture (Vers une Architecture in French), detailing his belief in modern architecture and the direction that modern architecture should follow.  Because of the 20^th century’s association with the machine age, Le Corbusier believed that architecture should also be a product of mechanical reproduction, thus rejecting historical references and traditional materials.  A memorable quote from the book: “a house is a machine for living.”

 

Ways of Seeing

Ways of Seeing by John Berger remains as one of the canonical works in art literature.  The book, based off the BBC television series of the same name created by Berger with Mike Dibb, was written over 30 years ago, though what Berger had to say about the prevalence of visual imagery in our day-to-day lives still remains as recognized as ever.  I wasn’t alive in the 1970s to watch the series, but I read a few assigned chapters as a student, and I remember being blown away by what he had to say, and how simply he said it.  It’s a short read, and I look forward to reading through the book in its entirety.