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CURRENT LITERATURE I. Book Reviews Book Review Panel: RudolfArnheim, Eva Belik,john Bowlt,john W. Cooper, Elmer Duncan: Robert S. Lansdon, Alan Lee, Rimma Lerman, joy Turner Luke, john Mallinckrodt, DaVId Pamer, Clifford Pickover, Rosalinda Sartorti, David Topper, Stephen Wzlson. COLOR AND THE COMPUTER H.John Durrett, ed. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, U.S.A., 1987.299 pp., iIlus. Trade, $59.00. ISBN: ()"12-22521O-1. Reviewed byStephen Wilson, Conceptual Design, Art Department, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, U.S.A. Color is one of the fields that simultaneously seduces and eludes strict scientific analysis. The advent of color computer systems has heightened the importance of the effort by psychophysiologists to codify and control color. Digital systems demand unambiguous systems for specifying color. Similarly, the communication of digital visual information among various display systems such as video and hard-copy ink reproduction requires clear systems of specification. Ultimately , the hope is that a wide range of humans perceive the color image in the way that the creator intended. Although significant progress has been made in the science of color, there are still gaps in the knowledge. Scientists are discovering what artists have known for a long time. Colorand the Computer is a collection of theoretical and practical essays on the use of color in computer systems. The articles are written by world experts in their fields. Theoretical articles include "Color Displays and Color Science", "Human Factors for Color Display Systems" and "Perceptual Color Spaces for Computer Graphics". Practical articles explore color issues in fields such as medical imaging, cartography, military applications , video and business. Some of the articles contain highly technical information , although most readers will still be able to extract what they need. The lack of articles about aesthetics of color, cultural issues and applications in art and design is an unfortunate omission. Nonetheless, the book serves a useful function in collecting all this information into one place. Computer color offers extraordinary possibilities for artists to explore nuance and to analytically separate color information from other visual aspects. Thus, the book should be a valuable resource for many readers. PULSE 2: REPORT ON A PHENOMENON by Phyllis Plout. Exh. cat. University Art Museum, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A., 1990. (Distributed by Univ. of Washington Press, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.) 76 pp., iIlus. ISBN: 0-942006-19-4. Reviewed byRogerF. Malina, Center Jor EUV Astrophysics, University oj California, Berkeley CA 94720, U.S.A. This is the catalog of an exhibition held in Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A., at the University Art Museum and other venues in October 1990. PULSE is an acronym for people using light, sound and energy. Fiftyseven artists were represented with artworks that were kinetic or used light or sound in sculptural settings. Artists who pioneered such art forms, for example , Martha Boto, Duchamps.julio Le Parc, Heinz Mack, Laszlo MoholyNagy ,Jesus-Raphael Soto, Vasilii Takis and Jean Tinguely, were included . Younger artists of a new generation working in these media included Alice Aycock, Bill Bell, R. Fischer, Bill Fontana, Rebecca Horn, Jenny Holzer, Milton Komisar and Bill and Mary Buchen. The work shown therefore bracketed some 75 years of experimental art making with work ranging in scale from small gallery pieces to outdoor installations. The catalog includes essays by Nancy Doll and Diane Shamash, as well as illustrations of most of the work. The exhibit was largely funded by the David Bermant Foundation. The large body of work available now for major exhibits of this kind was certainly demonstrated, as well as the number of new artists now producing interesting work. It is less clear what kind of thematic links exist between these artists. Kinetic and technological art forms are now sufficiently developed that curators should be urged to seek new ways of thinking about, structuring and organising such exhibits around useful or illuminating themes, ideas, concepts or theoretical constructs. Leonardo also is faced with this dilemma; very rarely does the technology itself provide the right long-term theoretical basis for structuring discussions of the ideas and impact of the art making. THE SECOND COMPUTER REVOLUTION: VISUALIZATION by R. Friedhoff and W. Benzon. Abrams, New York, NY, U...

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