Feminist approaches to art are extremely influential and widely studied across a variety of disciplines; including art theory; cultural and visual studies; and philosophy. Gender and Aesthetics is an introduction to the major theories and thinkers within art and aesthetics from a philosophical perspective; carefully introducing and examining the role that gender plays in forming ideas about art. It is ideal for anyone coming to the topic for the first time. Organized thematically; the book introduces in clear language the most important topics within feminist aesthetics:Why were there so few women painters?Art; pleasure and beautyMusic; literature and paintingThe role of gender in taste and foodWhat is art and who is an artist?Disgust and the sublime.Each chapter discusses important topics and thinkers within art and examines the role gender plays in our understanding of them. These topics include creativity; genius and the appreciation of art; and thinkers from Plato; Kant; and Hume to Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva. Also included in the book are illustrations from Gaugin and Hogarth to Cindy Sherman and Nancy Spero to clarify and help introduce often difficult concepts. Each chapter concludes with a summary and further reading and there is an extensive annotated bibliography. Carolyn Korsmeyers style is refreshing and accessible; making the book suitable for students of philosophy; gender studies; visual studies and art theory; as well as anyone interested in the impact of gender on theories of art.
#1832591 in eBooks 2004-07-31 2004-07-31File Name: B000OI16J2
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A rare find; a book thats really about room acousticsBy Art NoxonI work with small room acoustics and am very happy to add this book to my collection. It is an unusual acoustic book in that it is only about the acoustics of rooms. It stands in high contrast to many acoustic books; which usually have only one chapter on small and another on large room acoustics.Incidentally; I thought I was buying the 5th edition but managed to end up with the 4th edition; so my comments only apply to the 4th edition.I like the clarity given to the effect wall impedance has on standing waves. I didnt see the effect on bass induced wall vibration as it modulated high frequency reflection. Nor did I notice any effort towards structural damping of room surfaces; and the consequences of not damping them.I havent seen a discussion on subjective difference between phase aligned vs phase distorted types of diffusion; which is an important modern issue. The work meanders between large and small room acoustics. Lots of large room acoustic work has been done elsewhere; not much seems new there but the small room acoustics part of the work is significant and contributes to the area of my interest.Steady state and RT60 perspectives are typical but here some effort is made to clarify what is happening during the attack transient stage. Using image modeling; sound level overshoot point is described; but in a simplified way; limited to one dimension. Much more can be done here. Even so; it begins to move into the dynamic region of room performance.I loved the MTF treatment; modulation transfer function; how reverberation lowers the MTF. MTF is a great descriptor in speech as shown here but it is also critical in musical performance and this is not brought up. At least MTF is being presented as part of the big picture....Much more work in this area is needed.I liked the effort at defining resonator absorption; something totally lacking in most acoustic books. I also liked that correlation measurements are being presented as being relevant to the listening experience. I liked the spaciousness treatment; particularly important for listeners.I was hoping to see serious work done with high power audio systems in small rooms; but that didnt happen. All in all; Im very happy to find this jewel. It must have been a breakthrough book in the 70s and still has lots of good information and conceptual understandings that continue to apply to todays efforts in dealing with small room acoustics. Now; I want to at least skim the 5th edition; to see what areas of small room acoustics have been further developedAuthor Heinrich Kuttruffs breadth and depth in his work is humbling; but not overwhelmingly. Rather; in a way which reassures and supports ones effort to press on. Im happy that; through his book; I get to share in his good work. Im looking forward to a lot more reading and discovering as I continue on with this book.Art NoxonAcoustic Engineer1 of 15 people found the following review helpful. Great BookBy A CustomerThis is the book to own for your acoustical reference manual. This one belongs on your shelf.