Ken Carbone’s Book List
Print is not dead in my life. I’m a certified book junkie. I have shelves of books still in their shrink-wrap and I need to attend the bibliophile’s equivalent of AA.
When I begin a new book I commonly make a reduced color copy of the cover to use as a bookmark. When I finish a book, I glue this into my journal and add notes, comments, and memorable passages as a way of reflecting on what I enjoyed about the book. (For two examples, see the journal entries for The World Without Us and Art & Fear in the related blog post.) I’ve been doing this for years and will occasionally look at a past journal entry, and read my notes. It’s like reading the book all over again.
There are hundreds of books I can recommend for this site but I suggest the following 11 titles dedicated to culture, art history, literature, and the natural world. These works offer insight into the wonders and intricacies of life—true fodder for inspiration and entertainment.
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This catalogue was published in conjunction with an exhibition that appeared at the Drawing Center in New York in 2004. It is an outstanding collection of drawings and renderings of objects from nature from the mid-19th century. Most of the images pre-date photography, but the series of “cyanotypes” (early photograms) are magical. This book is a visual tour de force and one of my favorite examples of great design.
This book is 122 pages of valuable advice. It’s like a microscope that lets you examine in great detail the complex challenges that confront artists and by exposing them offers possible solutions. It is one of the most annotated books that I own and taught me lessons that I can use every day.
I read this wonderful 32-page essay at least once a year. It’s a thrill to have such an eloquent champion of creativity remind me of why choosing a career in the arts was a wise decision. This is Churchill’s paean to finding one’s muse and it is a masterpiece. It has been out of print for years but if you find one, consider it a lost treasure.
This well-designed book is worth having for the visual timeline alone. Eco traces beauty and power, from antiquity to the present day. The visual gallery of “Face and Hair of Venus and Adonis” is very witty and entertaining.
This is a tour de force of storytelling. Gombrich wrote this in the 1930s as a history primer for children, but it is so deftly constructed that you get a comprehensive look at the development of human civilization without oversimplification. Xerxes, Charlemagne, Galileo, Lao-Tzu and hundreds of others come alive when Gombrich tells you how they have shaped our world.
A national best seller, this book has been widely acclaimed for identifying and defining the core knowledge without which no literate American should be. I have found this to be an invaluable resource covering everything from mythology, fine arts, and American history to anthropology, earth sciences, and technology. This book will make you smarter.
Brownjohn’s career lasted only a little over 20 years (he died in 1970 at age 44), but in it he attained a notorious position in design and advertising, bridging the fields of still and moving imagery. Best known for his sexy title sequences for the Bond films “From Russia With Love” and “Goldfinger,” he also produced influential work when he was in partnership with Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar in the 1950s. This monograph on his life and work, thickly illustrated in black-and-white and color, traces the cult designer’s story decade by decade and piece by piece.
It is almost impossible for me to look at a work of modern art—or design for that matter—without reflecting on what I learned from this book. Varnedoe, who died a few years ago, was the former Director of Painting and Sculpture at MoMA and a brilliant teacher. The principles he outlines in this book are profound. They are based on solid research and offer insight into what inspired great modern art.
The World Without Us is a book I highly recommend. I think it is a profound work. It makes a convincing case that the planet is not in peril, it’s just waiting for us to go! It states that in a relatively short period of time after we’re gone—100,000 years or so—there will be very little or no trace that we ever existed. Maybe a fossil or two.
“A flâneur is a stroller, a loiterer, someone who ambles through a city without apparent purpose but is secretly attuned to the history of the place and in a covert search for adventure, aesthetic or erotic.” That’s White’s definition and I wonder how I can sign up for the job. If you have been to Paris, this book is like a sensorial guide that brings you back to the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feeling of this great city. If you plan to visit Paris in your lifetime, buy this book first and discover places that are off the beaten path.
This is an insightful and articulate book by one of the foremost conservationists of our time. Wilson tells you about the wonderful planet that is currently under our stewardship, why it may not be wonderful for long, and what positive changes are underway to save our world. Wilson believes that the 21st century will be the century of the environment because soon we will have little choice but to be more environmentally responsible.
Announcements
Total Armageddon: A Slanted Reader on Design edited by Ian Lynam
Total Armageddon: A Slanted Reader on Design
Edited by Ian Lynam
Publisher: Slanted Publishers
Published: March 2019
Total Armageddon is about design. And culture. And complexity, notably how we, as a global civilization, deal with science fiction, taste, social media, the cities we live in, aesthetics, PowerPoint, burkas, Big Tech, full-contact sports, and other thorny topics. The book celebrates 15 years of independent publishing and brings together a who’s who of authors and essays from 32 issues of Slanted Magazine.
A Field Guide to Color by Lisa Solomon
A Field Guide to Color: A Watercolor Workbook
By Lisa Solomon
Publisher: Roost Books
Published: August 2019
In this creative workbook you’ll discover fresh ways to connect with color in your art and life. Using watercolors, gouache, or any other water-based medium, explore color theory while playing with paint through a balanced blend of color experiments and loose color meditations. This inspiring workbook will change the way you relate to color
Five Oceans in a Teaspoon by Dennis Bernstein and Warren Lehrer
Five Oceans in a Teaspoon
Poems by Dennis Bernstein
Visualizations by Warren Lehrer
Introduction by Steven Heller
Publisher: Paper Crown Press
Published: September 19, 2019
“From a kidnap note for a world held hostage by an A-bomb, to a Holocaust survivor’s tattooed arms where the numbers just don’t add up, Five Oceans in a Teaspoon re-envisions a poetry memoir via a textual kaleidoscope... Bernstein and Lehrer are the Rodgers and Hart of Visual Poetry.” — Bob Holman, poet, poetry activist and chronicler, and founder of the Bowery Poetry Club
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City by Paul Goldberger
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City
By Paul Goldberger
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Published: May 2019
An illustrated, entirely new look at the history of baseball: told through the stories of the vibrant and ever-changing ballparks where the game was and is staged, by the Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic.
Charleston Fancy by Witold Rybczynski
Charleston Fancy: Little Houses and Big Dreams in the Holy City
By Witold Rybczynski
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: May 2019
Charleston, South Carolina, which boasts America’s first historic district, is known for its palmetto-lined streets and picturesque houses. The Holy City, named for its profusion of churches, exudes an irresistible charm. Award-winning author and cultural critic Witold Rybczynski unfolds a series of stories about a group of youthful architects, builders, and developers based in Charleston: a self-taught home builder, an Air Force pilot, a fledgling architect, and a bluegrass mandolin player.
Teaching Graphic Design History by Steven Heller
Teaching Graphic Design History
By Steven Heller
Publisher: Allworth Press
Published: June 2019
An examination of the concerted efforts, happy accidents, and key influences of the practice throughout the years, Teaching Graphic Design History is an illuminating resource for students, practitioners, and future teachers of the subject.
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