The Power of Line: Linea III - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3777424986 ISBN 13: 9783777424989

Publisher: Hirmer, 2016

Synopsis

In many cultures lines take centre stage in art and science, in writing, drawing and construction. This publication explores the fascination and power of the phenomenon of the line from the point of view of various academic disciplines ranging from the history of art to philosophy and the history of science.

There are no lines in nature; lines are always the expression of human actions, perception and design. Lines divide or connect; they are sometimes static and sometimes gestural and full of movement; they represent and create forms in space and time. The essays in this volume elucidate the semantic and conceptual depth of the line in European, Asian and Islamic cultures and reveal the continuity and transformation of the line over the course of centuries as a constitutive element in architecture, art and writing and as a medium of expression in choreography and scientific and technological fields.

About this title

About the Authors

Marzia Faietti is the director of the Uffizi Department of Prints and Drawings, also in Florence.

Gerhard Wolf is director of the Kunsthistorisches Institut-Max-Planck-Institute in Florence and honorary professor at Humboldt University in Berlin. His recent publications include Images Take Flight: Feather Art in Mexico and Europe.

From the Back Cover

This book explores the many dimensions of the power of lines, a phenonemon of highest semantic and conceptual density. Theontological status of lines is polihedral, with their ever changing material nature and appearance, their continuous shifting between stability and motion, their ability to divide and unite, to represent and to create form in space and time.Lines are major agents in arts and science, for example in drawing, writing and building, in and between cultures. Fascinated by lines and their potential, the curators of this volume have suggested a multi-disciplinary dialogue over the last years. "Power of Line" presents the results of this experience and pushes the argument further, under various points of view, mostly from art and architectural history, but also philosophy, history of science and performance studies. The essays of this volume study Chinese and Japanese lines, European and Islamic ones, lines which evoke nature, architecture and other visual cultures, lines as pictorial or graphic signs, traces and gestures, concerned with letters or choreographies.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hirmer
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3777424986
• ISBN 13: 9783777424989
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240
• Editor: Faietti Marzia