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Archive: February 2011
On My Shelf: Richard Neville's Playpower
I didn’t see the original 1970 hardback of Playpower until many years after I read the book. I bought it immediately. As with all Martin Sharp’s underground art, an ambivalent satirical malaise taints the liberated psychedelic fantasy and the joke is probably on the reader.READ MORE | COMMENTS
Solitude in Dark Trees
It was perhaps 50 feet away from the path, in the woods, a structure around 12 feet tall, built from wooden poles, leaning against a tree. I made my way across the forest floor towards it. A broad ladder with ten thick rungs led to the seat above, fashioned from planks. What was this thing?READ MORE | COMMENTS (7)
A Journal with No Fear of Flying
Changing a magazine’s format is always risky. It’s such a fundamental aspect of what we perceive it to be. The Drawbridge’s transformation is particularly startling. Indeed, it might rate as one of the most dramatic changes of visual direction ever ventured by a literary magazine. Or any kind of magazine.READ MORE | COMMENTS (1)
What Does J.G. Ballard Look Like?
J.G. Ballard is unusual among writers of fiction for being perceived primarily in terms of his imagery. The term “Ballardian” has become shorthand for a particular kind of location, object, conjunction of objects, or atmosphere. As Ballard often said in interviews, his principal influences came from visual artists and he thought of himself as a frustrated painter.READ MORE | COMMENTS (16)
Rick Poynor is a writer, critic, lecturer and curator, specialising in design, media and visual culture. He founded Eye, co-founded Design Observer, and contributes columns to Eye and Print. His latest book is Uncanny: Surrealism and Graphic Design.Recent Book
Uncanny: Surrealism and Graphic Design
Rick Poynor
Moravian Gallery, 2010
More books by Rick Poynor >>
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DESIGN OBSERVER JOBS
BLOGROLL
Ballardian
Bldgblog (Geoff Manaugh)
Book Works
David Byrne
Centre for the Study of Surrealism and its Legacies
Click Opera (Momus)
Creative Review
D-Crit
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Eye
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Frieze
Guardian: Art & Design
Kinoblog (Michael Brooke)
K-punk (Mark Fisher)
London Review of Books
Metahaven
Morbid Anatomy
Senses of Cinema
Shovelware (Mark Dery)
Sight & Sound
Sit Down Man, You’re a Bloody Tragedy (Owen Hatherley)
Strange Harvest (Sam Jacob)
21C The Future is Here
UbuWeb
Wellcome Collection
RICK POYNOR: RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Shoot! Existential PhotographyClément Chéroux, editor
Helios: Eadweard Muybridge in a Time of ChangePhilip Brookman
What is Contemporary Art?e-flux Journal
Iaspis Forum on Design and Critical Practice: The ReaderMartin Frostner & Magnus Ericson et al., editors
Volume: Writings on Graphic Design, Music, Art, and CultureKenneth FitzGerald & Rudy VanderLans
Song and Circumstance: The Work of David Byrne from Talking Heads to the PresentSytze Steenstra
Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?Mark Fisher
No Return: Journeys in the HolocaustRomek Marber
Turning Pages: Editorial Design for Print MediaRobert Klanten et al., editors
RemainderTom McCarthy
RICK POYNOR: OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
Inside JobCharles Ferguson
Blow OutBrian De Palma
Songs from the Second FloorRoy Andersson
Red DesertMichelangelo Antonioni
MisinforMationCOI/Mordant Music
Ace in the HoleBilly Wilder
The Pervert’s Guide to CinemaSlavoj Žižek
