Postmodern Currents: Art and the Artists in the Age of Electronic Media by Margot Lovejoy (review)

THE MATRIX: AN ATLAS OF WORLD TELECOMMUNICATIONS byJohn S. Quarterman. Digital Press, 12 Crosby Drive, Bedford, MA 01730, U.S.A., 1990. 719 pp. Paper. ISBN: 1-55558-033-5. Reviewed byRogerF. Malina, Center forEUVAstrophysics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, U.S.A. This is a reference manual that describes the international system of interconnected computer networks. It will be useful to all frequent users of computer networks and includes a large compilation ofinformation on academic, research, commercial and other systems. Technical information includes how to find interconnection between routings and how to find network nodes in almost any country of the world. An appendix includes a useful legal discussion by Benjamin Wright. The legal systems in all countries are all still catching up with the facts of new telecommunications realities , and in many cases current law does not cover specific user needs. The author rightfully points out that this reference manual will need frequent updating since the state of the networks is in continual change as old networks disappear and new ones are designed to take their place and make up for the shortcomings of the earlier systems. We are currently in a phase of consolidation of existing systems with growing governmental involvement and regulation. The author can be contacted for comments and information as well as suggested additions to the manual, at his electronic mail address: matrix@longway.tic.com or by post to The Matrix, P. O. Box 14621, Austin, TX 78761, U.S.A. SIGNAL: COMMUNICATION TOOLS FOR THE INFORMATION AGE by Kevin Kelley. Harmony, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1988.225 pp., illus. Trade, $16.95. ISBN: 0-517-57084-X. Reviewed byClifford A. Pickover, 37 YorkshireLane , Yorktown Heights, New York, NY 10598, U.S.A. This interesting catalog lists more than 900 products, publications and software programs related to the topic of computing and information processing. It contains interesting reviews of little-known newsletters and magazines on topics of computer art, fractals, cellular automata, complex systems, chaos and artificial life. Other topics include: computer viruses, computers in education, strange computer networks, computer music, interspecies communication , visual thinking, fax machines, robots, the law and computing, and music from genetic sequences. No thinking person alive today with even the slightest curiosity about the creative use of the computer and the frontiers of computing should pass this up. Need I say more? ART AFrER MODERNISM: RETHINKING REPRESENTATION Brian Wallis, ed. The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1984. 461 pp., illus, Paper, $15.95. ISBN: 0-87923-632-9. Reviewed byDavid Topper, History Department , University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 2£9, Canada. In the near future, after the dust has cleared and postmodernism has been replaced by whatever is etymologically viable, at least five elements of postmodern thinking will, I believe, retain central roles within art criticism, history and theory. These are: firstly, an emphasis on the social and economic contexts of artworks (although too often this is done only from a Marxist viewpoint); secondly, a sensitivity to and critique of sexism, racism, classism , and related matters (and surely feminist studies will remain as a basic part of all art studies); thirdly, the reemergence of the psychological component as a legitimate perspective of an artist's life and work (specifically within a psychoanalytic framework, although eschewed of the sexism inherent in Freud); fourthly, a realization of the semiological nature of visual knowledge (although this can, and often is, overstated and overstressed); and, finally, a fundamental concern with tacit assumptions, 'hidden agendas ' or ideologies within the imagery and the 'art writing' about it (writers, accordingly, are supposed to 'de-center ' or 'de-construct' themselves, although , it seems to me, they don't always do so). These five elements of postmodern thought may be found in the 25 essays collected in this book. As well, a feature of postmodern art is the range of media utilized: thus these essays deal not only with painting, drawing and sculpture, but also with performance, video, television, and film. From a feminist perspective, the essays "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema " by Laura Mulvey and "'A Certain Refusal of Difference': Feminist Film Theory" by Constance Penley...