Play and the Human Condition

Play and the Human Condition
Author: Thomas S. Henricks
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2015-04-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 025209705X

In Play and the Human Condition, Thomas Henricks brings together ways of considering play to probe its essential relationship to work, ritual, and communitas. Focusing on five contexts for play--the psyche, the body, the environment, society, and culture--Henricks identifies conditions that instigate play, and comments on its implications for those settings. Offering a general theory of play as behavior promoting self-realization, Henricks articulates a conception of self that includes individual and social identity, particular and transcendent connection, and multiple fields of involvement. Henricks also evaluates play styles from history and contemporary life to analyze the relationship between play and human freedom. Imaginative and stimulating, Play and the Human Condition shows how play allows us to learn about our qualities and those of the world around us--and in so doing make sense of ourselves.

Raymond Pettibon: To Wit

Raymond Pettibon: To Wit
Author: Raymond Pettibon
Publisher: David Zwirner Books
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2014-04-30
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780989980944

In the summer of 2013, Raymond Pettibon took over one of David Zwirner’s gallery spaces in New York, transforming the high-ceilinged, garage-like white cube into his studio in order to prepare a show of drawings and collages within—and sometimes directly on—its walls. Titled To Wit, evoking the Middle English expression that has come to express a certain formality today and is defined as “namely,” or “that is to say,” the exhibition gave new meaning to the term “site specific,” featuring vibrant, gestural works Pettibon created in conversation with his surroundings that operated as a sort of archive, both product and record of his relationship to that space and time. Unified by their bold, vivid lines and unconventional framing, they feature allusions to a wide spectrum of American “high” and “low” culture, from violence, humor, and sex to literature, youth, art history, and sports—embodying the artist’s signature mix of social and political commentary, diary entry, and automatic drawing. This publication, presenting large color plates of the works created over that summer by Pettibon, who also produced an original drawing for its sturdy cardboard cover, explores the intricate relationship between image and language that has long fascinated the artist. Just as the works in the exhibition existed at once as art and document, so too does the book itself have the hefty, physical presence of a work of art. Extensive installation views capture the dynamic combination of visual imagery and text that has come to characterize Pettibon’s practice, and a selection of gritty black-and-white photographs by Andreas Laszlo Konrath offers an intimate glimpse into the artist’s working process. Context is provided by Lucas Zwirner, who accompanied the artist throughout this period and contributed the book’s essay, “A Month with Raymond.” As Zwirner describes it, the show functioned “as an essayistic whole held together by imaginative leaps and subtle connections which Raymond has left unexplained and uninterpreted.” That perspective is rounded out in an interview with the artist by Kim Gordon, a visual artist and musician, who first encountered Pettibon’s work in the early 1980s in Los Angeles.

Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, Vol 1, Issue 11 America's Magazine of Wit, Humor and Filosophy

Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, Vol 1, Issue 11 America's Magazine of Wit, Humor and Filosophy
Author: W. H. Fawcett
Publisher: Alpha Edition
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2021-06-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 9789354594892

The book, Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, Vol 1, Issue 11 America's Magazine of Wit, Humor and Filosophy, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor

Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor
Author: Various
Publisher: DigiCat
Total Pages: 123
Release: 2022-11-21
Genre: Humor
ISBN:

This is a collection of American humor stories that have gone through a fairly selective screening process. Thomas L. Masson, an American anthropologist, editor, and author, edited the work. Not only does everything plausible point to the work of our American humorists, from Washington Irving to "Mr. Dooley," but many are just fugitives and stories. One of the books that is very interesting to read, especially for classic humor lovers.

America

America
Author: Jon Stewart
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005
Genre: Democracy
ISBN: 9780713998948

American democracy is the world's most beloved form of government, which is why so many other nations are eager for it to be imposed on them. But just what exactly is it? Jon Stewart and his fellow patriots from the Emmy-winning The Daily Show finally deliver the answer. They offer their insights into a unique system of government, dissecting its institutions, explaining its history and processes, and exploring the reasons why concepts like 'One man, one vote', 'Government by the people', and 'Every vote counts' have become such popular urban myths. Includes such favourites as Ancient Rome: The First Republicans; The Founding Fathers: Young, Gifted and White; The President: King of Democracy; The Supreme Court: 18 Legs, Four Tits, One Mission; Running for Office: What Are You Thinking?; The Media: Can It Be Stopped?; The Future of Democracy: The Constitutional Robocracy and You