Dating the publication of Hugh Miller’s The testimony of the rocks (1857)

Assessing the precise publication dates of nineteenth-century books is difficult. Common problems include inadequate, inaccurate and confusing title-page information, and misleading advertisements. It is better to use multiple lines of evidence rather than a single source. The first Scottish and English edition of The testimony of the rocks, by Hugh Miller (1802–1856), is shown to have been published on or about 24 March 1857, after the author’s suicide, as a combination of the first and second issues simultaneously. The first issue was published by Shepherd & Elliot of Edinburgh in co-operation with Hamilton, Adams & Co. of London. It was optionally available with an additional frontispiece of a photographic print of Miller. The second issue was published by Thomas Constable & Co. of Edinburgh with Shepherd & Elliot and Hamilton, Adams. After some further issues, Shepherd & Elliot was dropped later in 1857, so that the third publishers’ imprint became Constable with Hamilton, Adams, for a number of issues. Constable and Hamilton, Adams published a newly-typeset second Edinburgh edition in 1860, but failed to denote it as such. Gould & Lincoln of Boston, Massachusetts, published the first American edition (from a new typesetting) and distributed it on or about 25 April 1857.

The Mars Viking Lander Experimental Data Record: an Examination of Digital and Analogue Image Objects Within a Museum of Photography Collection

Using a set of photographic print rolls containing over 4,000 image frames of the Martian landscape produced by NASA from images obtained by cameras mounted on the Viking Lander I and II spacecraft in 1976, and a companion CD-ROM set containing replicates of Viking’s visual data, this thesis will explore the photographic technologies and the image processing procedures used to create NASA image products for scientific research. It will also examine the relationship between the photographic rolls and the original digital entities on the CD-ROMs and explore why such science-based photographic objects should be collected by a museum of photography.

The Mars Viking Lander Experimental Data Record: an Examination of Digital and Analogue Image Objects Within a Museum of Photography Collection

Using a set of photographic print rolls containing over 4,000 image frames of the Martian landscape produced by NASA from images obtained by cameras mounted on the Viking Lander I and II spacecraft in 1976, and a companion CD-ROM set containing replicates of Viking’s visual data, this thesis will explore the photographic technologies and the image processing procedures used to create NASA image products for scientific research. It will also examine the relationship between the photographic rolls and the original digital entities on the CD-ROMs and explore why such science-based photographic objects should be collected by a museum of photography.

Embodied nostalgia

By looking at the history of snapshot photography from the Kodak Brownie until today's iPhone, the qualities of digital snapshot photography will be measured against its analogue past. Through this critique, I will illustrate how highly valued cultural objects like the photographic print and the family album have been replaced by hypermediated transactions of images stored online via social networking websites. Specifically, I will explore why our contemporary society looks back to its past, and at the same time yearn for the future. Smart-phone developers tap into the niche market of this nostalgic trend and created, for example, the Hipstamatic application to give us images that capture moments that look unique, old, and most importantly, one-of-a-kind. The nostalgic qualities associated with analogue snapshot photography-aged prints, exposure flaws, soft focus, and light leaks-are mimicked by contemporary digital images, creating the illusion of historical uniqueness. Snapshot photography is about memory, time, ritual, and nostalgia; the digital is about hypermediated, immediate and constant social online photo posting. The snapshot photograph finds itself at an interesting point of transition, competing to be one step ahead of the newest technology and at the same time, imitating yesterdays technology by striving to look authentically as if from the past. The new and the old have become intermingled.

Embodied nostalgia

By looking at the history of snapshot photography from the Kodak Brownie until today's iPhone, the qualities of digital snapshot photography will be measured against its analogue past. Through this critique, I will illustrate how highly valued cultural objects like the photographic print and the family album have been replaced by hypermediated transactions of images stored online via social networking websites. Specifically, I will explore why our contemporary society looks back to its past, and at the same time yearn for the future. Smart-phone developers tap into the niche market of this nostalgic trend and created, for example, the Hipstamatic application to give us images that capture moments that look unique, old, and most importantly, one-of-a-kind. The nostalgic qualities associated with analogue snapshot photography-aged prints, exposure flaws, soft focus, and light leaks-are mimicked by contemporary digital images, creating the illusion of historical uniqueness. Snapshot photography is about memory, time, ritual, and nostalgia; the digital is about hypermediated, immediate and constant social online photo posting. The snapshot photograph finds itself at an interesting point of transition, competing to be one step ahead of the newest technology and at the same time, imitating yesterdays technology by striving to look authentically as if from the past. The new and the old have become intermingled.

Preservation Of A Time-Based Media Installation : A Case Study of George Eastman House 1968 and 2008 Exhibitions, Conscience The Ultimate Weapon

In July of 1968, George Eastman House opened Conscience the Ultimate Weapon (Conscience), an innovative audio-visual installation consisting of projected images dissolving from one to the next, accompanied by a synchronized soundtrack. Under the direction of Nathan Lyons, curator at George Eastman House from 1959 to 1969, the exhibition projected 780 photojournalistic images by Benedict J. Fernandez III, depicting protests and public demonstrations that affirmed political dissent throughout the United States during the 1960s. This provocative, political, and ultimately controversial exhibition was firmly grounded in the conflicts of the time. Further, it challenged the exhibition standards of an institution that was known primarily for the promotion of the photograph as fine art and the celebration of the photographic print. In 2008, George Eastman House created an interpretation of this historically important exhibition using modern technology within a contemporary social and political context. Through a case study comparing the 1968 George Eastman House exhibition, Conscience, with the 2008 interpretation of Conscience, this paper will provide an analysis of the preservation issues surrounding these time-based media installations.

Preservation Of A Time-Based Media Installation : A Case Study of George Eastman House 1968 and 2008 Exhibitions, Conscience The Ultimate Weapon

In July of 1968, George Eastman House opened Conscience the Ultimate Weapon (Conscience), an innovative audio-visual installation consisting of projected images dissolving from one to the next, accompanied by a synchronized soundtrack. Under the direction of Nathan Lyons, curator at George Eastman House from 1959 to 1969, the exhibition projected 780 photojournalistic images by Benedict J. Fernandez III, depicting protests and public demonstrations that affirmed political dissent throughout the United States during the 1960s. This provocative, political, and ultimately controversial exhibition was firmly grounded in the conflicts of the time. Further, it challenged the exhibition standards of an institution that was known primarily for the promotion of the photograph as fine art and the celebration of the photographic print. In 2008, George Eastman House created an interpretation of this historically important exhibition using modern technology within a contemporary social and political context. Through a case study comparing the 1968 George Eastman House exhibition, Conscience, with the 2008 interpretation of Conscience, this paper will provide an analysis of the preservation issues surrounding these time-based media installations.

Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up as Abstract Art Theory

As is well known, Blow-Up (1966) directed by Michelangelo Antonioni is based on Julio Cortázar’s short story; “Las babas del diablo” (1959). In literary terms, it is very difficult to find similarities between both works, except in their outlines. Many critics, therefore, thought Blow-Up was Antonioni’s own film with no special connection with “Las babas del diablo”. But we should focus on the common outlines of the two. Both deal with ‘vision’. The change of seeing through a viewfinder to seeing through a photographic print gives the protagonists a daydream-like experience.Cortázar was not only a writer but also an amateur photographer, and Antonioni a film director. If both auteurs reveal their interest in ‘vison’ in their works, we can say that Antonioni follows Cortázar regarding this theme and further develops it through his use of abstract paintings. Antonioni was concerned with differences between the vision of the naked eye and photographic vision, and with similarities between the photographic vision and abstract painting. So, what is Antonioni’s understanding of vision?I think there is a key to resolve this question in Blow-Up itself. One can focus on not only the change of the protagonist’s behavior in following the story’s development, but also on photographs, abstract paintings, and landscape paintings that appear in the film. Then we would find the possibility that Antonioni thinks photographs and pointillist paintings are based on the same principle; the retinal mesh-like structure. Article received: April 10, 2019; Article accepted: June 5, 2019; Published online: September 15, 2019; Original scholarly paperHow to cite this article: Ijuin, Takayuki. "Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up as Abstract Art Theory." Art and Media Studies 19 (2019): 59-68. doi: 10.25038/am.v0i19.307