‘Event’ Arts and Art Events by Stephen C. Foster (review)

his hand-written notes about the early beginnings of the society (sent to me at my request), correspondence between us and letters to me from Lucile Munro during his final months. After his death, at his request in his will, his working library was donated to Love Library, San Diego State University,where it currently resides. When a biography of Tom Munro is written, Eleanor’s book will be an important point of departure. However , quite apart from his ‘modernist’ views about behavior, family life or even educational philosophy, it will be shown that his enormous creative output in publications was his life and contribution. To this day, his program for the future of aesthetics has yet to be sufficiently appreciated, let alone implemented. IS THE BODY OBSOLETE? Kevin Kelley, ed., Special Issue of WholeEarth Review, 27 Gate Five Road, Sausalito, CA 94965, U.S.A. Subscrip tion, $40. ISSN: 0749-5-56. Reviewed by RogerF. MaLina, P. 0.Box 421704, SunFrancisco, CA 94142-1704, U.S.A. WholeEarth Review is a quarterlyjournal produced by the same organisation that operates the Whole Earth ’lectronic Link, a computer networking system. Each issue combines essays , commentaries and short descrip tions of resources (books, services, etc.). WholeEarth Review regularly explores aspects of technological culture . This issue, titled “Isthe Body Obsolete,”explores a number of questions arising from the growing complexity of technological systems. These range from expansion of computerised prosthetic systems,computer simulations or virtual realities, and interactive games, as well as discussions of the human body in all its aspects- physiological and sociological . Hans Moravec, Director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon, argues for a post-biological future where human beings will be able to download or transfer human consciousness and the contents of the brain into robots. Since the length of machine generations is shorter than that of human generations, the evolutionary process will eventually be more effective in machines. Artist Stelarc describes his recent art work, which includes the use of a prosthetic third hand and devices connected directly to electrical signals in the human body. George Cowan, President of the Santa Fe Institute, describes the new science of complexity. The range of topics and worldviews represented in the issue is very broad. This smorgasbord reveals a remarkable optimism that human beings will take advantage of new knowledge about the human body and new technologies . There is a growing number of artists, including David Rosenboom and Stelarc exploring artwork connected to body signals of various types. Others, in choreography, theater, multi-media and hypermedia artforms, are exploring workswithin their virtual realities of computer simulations. These issues will continue to grow in importance as contemporary science and technology force new perspectives on the human body. AUDITORY PROCESSING OF COMPLEXSOUNDS William A. Yost and Charles S. Watson, eds. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, U.S.A., 1989. 328 pp. Trade, $29.95. ISBN: 0-89859-981-4. Reviewed by A.John Mallinckrodt,Joint ScienceDepartment, The Claremont CoLleges, Claremont, CA 91711, U.S.A. As a collection of papers summarizing current work in auditory perception, this book is the outgrowth of the Workshop on Auditory Processing of Complex Soundswhich was held in Sarasota, Florida in April 1986.The editors emphasize that the book is not a ‘Proceedings’;that each chapter is an extended discussion of the research which led to the presentation given by its authors at the workshop. The 28 chapters are collected into six sections, each concerned with either the form of the complexity (spectral, temporal, or speechlike) under study or the physiological and perceptual mechanisms (cochlear/neural physiology , pitch perception, perceptual organization) involved in processing the sound. The chapterswere submitted in camera-ready form by their authors, serving to decrease the publication lag, but also likely ensuring less editorial influence. The chapters are uniformly pitched at the level of the practitioner,but their readability is inconsistent. Nevertheless, the collection serves as a useful and thoughtprovoking survey of and reference to current psychoacoustical work in complex sound perception. ‘EVENT’ARTS AND ART EVENTS by Stephen C. Foster. Studies in the Fine Arts: The Avant-Garde, No. 57. Stephen C. Foster, Series Editor. UMI Research Press, Ann Arbor, MI, 1814X. Reviewed...