Textile Sculptures by Irene Waller (review)

Books 251 chapter, which is fundamental to about half the book, requires readers to have an understanding of complex numbers. The next chapter deals with image enhancement, which is the processing of a given image so that the result is more suitable than the original for a specific application. The examples here are interesting since the ‘specific application’ refers to human recognition of what the images contain. Images hidden in shadows or obscured by photographic over-exposure are made recognisable. The techniques include the removal of noise (‘salt and pepper’) and the increase of edgecontrast. Fundamentals of pseudocolour transformations are described. Transmission of an image by radio from a satellite or from some remote place on Earth is best done digitally, that is, as a stream of numbers. The image itself is a rectangular array of numbers representing the brightness at eachcorrespondingpoint in the picture. Acolour imagemay require (say)four such arrays, each representing a different colour component. These arrays can beverylarge, for example2340X 3380,and, to ‘compress’the data as much as possible, can reduce transmission time and the size of magnetic tape libraries. The last chapter deals with the content of the images rather than the practical business of transmitting, storing, enhancing, etc. Although this subject is very large, the treatment isrelatively brief, with few interesting examples, and I sensethat the authors added this material to match the textbook to more general university curricula. The usefulnessof this book to readers of Leonardo isprobably limited because it isconcerned withthe handlingof imagesrather than with their content (rather in the way in which a telephone system handles conversations without any concern for what is said). TextileSculptures.Irene Waller.Studio Vista, London, 1977.160 pp.. illus. €12.50. Reviewed by Marianne Straub* Fifty years ago the Bauhaus was founded in Germany. It initiated a new philosophy for the approach to design and craftsmanship and affected, not least, the attitude to textile design and construction by exploring new kinds of expression. The process of liberation from traditional textiletechniques thus started has since progressed and steadily accelerated. Waller has summarised what has been achievedwithin the last I5 years by artists concerned with constructed textile forms. She has limited her choice of textileartists to 22,and among theseare included the names of most best-known representatives of this recent art form. Its international character is borne out by the fact that artists from 12 countries are represented. She has interpreted the title of her book in the widest possible sense.The works illustrated represent a very widerange of textile constructions based on weaving, knitting, plaiting, knotting and wrapping and their use in multi-media combinations, whilst using a very wide range of basic textile materials. Each artist is introduced with a portrait photograph and a brief biographical note. These are of special interest, because they emphasise the fact that fibre artists have emerged from widely differing backgrounds of training and experience. Many had initially been concerned with painting, sculpture and even architecture, while a few weavershave reached beyond their craft disciplineand have used their skill to produce imaginative,bold, hanging or freestanding constructions. Each artist is represented by a number of illustrated pages, somein colour. The reproductions areexcellent;someconveythe grandeur of the work, others show details of the construction technique. Over all, the illustrations are so planned that the essenceof each artist’s work can be understood and remembered. A brief assessment of each artist’s work is presented, and, in some cases, statements by the artists about their work are included. The text, in general, is brief and to the point. The introductory pages are devoted to a survey of the fibre art movement in *67 Highsett Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 INZ, England. Europe and in the U.S.A. and the artisUcraftsman debate, and an attempt is made to assess the future developments of the art. Waller’s book provides a very good source of reference for students of fibre art, and artists involvedin thisart form will find it stimulating and thought provoking. Performance: Live Art 1909 to the Present. Roselee Goldberg. Thames and Hudson, London, 1979. 128pp.. illus. Paper,€2.95. Reviewed by Malcolm F.R. Miles* The intention of Goldberg is...