Artificial Reality by Myron Krueger (review)

historian of art and design. It is the first major work on Tatlin and a fascinating study of an artist’s creative evolution. Reviewed by Anthony Parton, 148 Hilda Park, Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham, DH2 2JY, U.K. Prints. Donald Karshan. The Smithsonian Illustrated Library of Antiques, CooperHewitt Museum, 1980. 127 pp. Donald Karshan was the founder and director of the Museum of Graphic Art in New York and has published books on Picasso, Archipenko, and Malevich. On Malevich he has compiled the Print Catalogue Raisonn6 from 1913 to 1930. It is to be expected that Karshan brings to a book on graphics the sum of his artistic and aesthetic philosophy and a wealth of technical experience. He presents his subject in a concentrated form with an original approach. This graphic arts survey is divided into two main parts. In the introductory chapter Karshan treats the different graphic techniques of the last 400 years. His precise definitions are technically impeccable. Short and concise, they are of an outstanding clarity. Despite Karshan’s focus on the essential features ofthe relief and intaglio character, this introduction is a very understandableguide for amateur and connoisseur collector alike. The second part leads through the whole world of prints, but rather than progressing in chronological order, the material is divided into different subjects. Karshan shows how artists, particularly printmakers, use different technical possibilities to realize their ideas and approaches on paper. Karshan states; “The many prints that survive constitute a matchless source of information on Western Man’s social, cultural and technological history.” He emphasizesthe importance of the print medium: “Printmaking is the only two-dimensional visual medium, besides photography, in which high quality duplication can be made in quantities.” ‘The Printmaker’s Subject’ opens with two sections marking the main themes: ‘Christianity’ and ‘Mythology’. In the former, the Bible is interpreted from Schongauer to the German expressionist Schmidt-Rottluff. ‘Mythology’ ranges from Mantegna to Odilon Redon. This is followed by ‘The Public Meeting Place’, from Breughel to the inauguration of the Brooklyn Bridge. An original aspect is presented in ‘Prints as Design Guides’, serving throughout centuries as models for craftsmen, architects and designers. These are general examples for ornamentation in many fields. ‘The Bestiary’, with prints of animals from Albrecht Diirer to Franz Mark, leads to illustrations of ‘Man’s Inhumanity to Man’, where the artist becomes involved in social consciousness, political criticism and propaganda . The author’s artistic analysis shows itself best in ‘Portraits of the Famous and Infamous’. The artworks organized by subject matter are reminiscent of a similar approach in the book Styles of Painting by Paul Zucker, where the historical sequence is replaced by an individual choice of artworks, related only through theme. One cannot underestimate the importance of the short chapter ‘Advice for Print Collectors’. The conservation of old prints, the intricate features of editions, the secret of the number games in prints, and, last but not least, useful hints to prevent damage (warnings about possible deterioration through light exposure) are rarely found with such clarity in other publications of this kind. The same scholastic quality appears in the last chapter, the excellent ‘Glossary’ of the technical terminology of the print field. A listing of ‘Some Public Collections of Prints’ rounds out the usefulness of the book. Prints unites strong technical aspects with a tasteful choice of examples, partly in good color reproductions. The text is both inspiring and instructive throughout, showing Donald Karshan’s sensitive expertise at its best. Reviewed by Peter Lipman-Wulf, Whitney Road, P. Box 387, Sag Harbor, NY 11963, U.S.A. Artificial Reality. Myron Krueger. Addison Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1983. 311 pp.. illus. $10.95. ISBN: 0-201-04765-9. Myron Krueger’s Artificial Reality may be one of the most important books for artists in the last part of the twentieth century. Krueger has been working quietly for 14 years, pushing both art and computer technology beyond the places mainstream practitioners have dared to walk. Using sophisticated arrays of sensors, he creates total environments in which participants ’ gross and fine movements aretranslated by the computer into video, computer graphic and computer sound effects. Artificial Reality is an exciting introduction to this...