Cabinet 21: electricity

• Date de parution : 01/04/2006
• Editeur : Dap Artbook
• EAN : 9781932698176
• Série : (-)
• Support : Papier

• Nombre de pages : (-)
• Collection : (-)
• Genre : Arts et spectacles
• Thème : Arts et spectacles
• Prix littéraire(s) : (-)

Electricity manifests itself in every facet of our lives--from the tiny shock received by touching a doorknob to the explosive power of a lightning strike, from the modest Hoover dustbuster to the industrial grandeur of the Hoover Dam. As a force that has given human beings seemingly unlimited... Voir plus

Electricity manifests itself in every facet of our lives--from the tiny shock received by touching a doorknob to the explosive power of a lightning strike, from the modest Hoover dustbuster to the industrial grandeur of the Hoover Dam. As a force that has given human beings seemingly unlimited power over nature and refashioned our understanding of day and night, and as a metaphor for the social currents flowing among individuals and communities, electricity has been our invisible yet ubiquitous ally in the creation of a contemporary "technological sublime." Cabinet No. 21 includes an interview with Sharon Beder on electricity and modernity in America; Margaret Wertheim on Lichtenberg figures, frozen lightning captured in acrylic blocks; Michael Sanchez on Francisco Salva's shocking proposal for an eighteenth-century human telegraphy system; an interview with Marcello Pera on how a frog triggered a decisive scientific debate between Enlightenment "electricians" Galvani and Volta; an essay on Benjamin Franklin's promotion of Ebenezer Kinnersley's electrified "magical picture"; and a firsthand account by a survivor of multiple lightning strikes. Also Tom Vanderbilt on Stasi scent samples; an interview with Sam Chwat, the foremost accent elimination coach in the United States; and artist projects by Andrea Geyer and Rachel Watson.