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collaborationist newspapers, his disciples set about re-constructing him. Bradbury points out, in fairness, that it was the deconstructionists themselves who discovered de Man's unfortunate past; however, a truly ironic spectacle developed, for the very people who, like Vattimo, proclaim the death of an author, and the death of genius, now set about re-creating Paul de Man as a founding genius: The discourse so often used to decanonize and defame other writers was put to work to canonize and re-fame the master ofdeconstruction. More significantly , the vacancies of this theory-it is avowedly not aesthetic, moral or ethical, and submits creation to the eternal condition of pure discourse-became a way to pronounce de Man's early writings undecidable, slipping away from their apparent meaning and their crucial historicallocation [6]. In other words, the 170 articles that de Man had produced for newspapers under the Third Reich were not his responsibility, because a text "has no existential author, no absolute historical occasion" [7]. Thus, although the claims made for infinite interpretability by Derrida, Vattimo and Fish are the source of interesting and challenging literary and philosophical games, they can also be the basis for malignant exercises. Revisionist historians, for example, would seem to take much potential comfort in the viewpoint that in the fullness of time, all versions of history are equally true. Worse yet, if 'the subject ' is dead and 'we' are all simply the products oflanguage, then the very notion of moral responsibility and accountability is gone. Humanity is invited to reflect upon itself as a zombie. References 1. H. Meynell, "Fish Fingered: Anatomy of a Deconstructionist ",journalofAestheticEducation 23, No.2, 5-17 (1989). 2. S. Fish, Is Therea Text in This Class?(Cambridge , MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1980) p. 346. 3. See Fish [2] p.303. 4. D. Lehman, Signs ofthe Times:Deconstruction and theFall ofPaul deMan (New York: Poseidon Press, 1991). 5. M. Bradbury, "The Scholar Who Misread History", New YorkTimes&ok Review,24 February, 1991, p. 9. 6. Bradbury [5] p.9. 7. Bradbury [5] p.9. JAMES TURRELL: THE ART OF LIGHT AND SPACE by Craig Adcock. Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A., 1990. 272 pp., illus. Trade, $45.00. ISBN: 0-520-06728-2. Reviewed byRogerF. Malina, Centerfor EUVAstrophysics, 2150 Kittridge, Berkeley , CA 94720, U.S.A. In this book, Adcock reviews the work of contemporary American artist James Turrell. Turrell, originally a native of Southern California, currently lives in Arizona where he is working on a gigantic earthwork at Roden Crater. In the artist's project the volcanic crater will be modified through the building ofchambers and passages, and the smoothing and altering of the natural topology. Visitors to the crater artwork, once it is completed, will experience a number of different sites, visual and sonic experiences intended to accentuate and focus perception of light and natural phenomena . Astronomical alignments will channel natural light from stars, planets and the sun and sky. In the artist's words, "Myworks don't illustrate scientific principles, but I want them to express a certain consciousness , a certain knowing. My spaces must be sensitive to events outside themselves. They must bring external events into themselves. I think of my works as being important in terms ofwhat they have to do with us and our relationship to the universe, but not necessarily in scientific terms" (p. xix). The author reviews the artist's works to date that have led him to conceive of the Roden Crater project. Turrell has created a large number of 'light' art pieces where subtle lighting effects are created in rooms and specially built installations through the use of natural and artificial lighting , shadowed through apertures onto white walls and surfaces. The artist exploits his considerable understanding of the human visual system, particularly effects and experiences found at low light levels or when the eye is confronted with uniform visual fields (e.g. Ganzfeld phenomena). The artist's earliest work, dating from the 1960s, connects to minimalist types of artwork in that very simple and abstract visual images are presented . Turrell was also involved with the Los Angeles Art and Technology groups that were active in the late 1960s...

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