John A. Walker – författare

An essential overview as well as a theoretical critique for all students of design history. Walker studies the intellectual discipline of Design History and the issues that confront scholars writing histories of design. Taking his approach from a range of related fields, he discusses the problems of defining design and writing history. He considers the different methods that leading scholars have used in the absence of a theoretical framework, and looks critically at a number of histories of design and architecture.

The vibrant fine arts and mass culture that the United Stated exported to Britain in the postwar period had a powerful and far-reaching impact on many British artists, art students and critics. In a fascinating social and cultural history covering the period from the 1940s to the 1990s, but with emphasis on the 1950s and 1960s, John A. Walker offers a scholarly but accessible account of America's Cold War cultural offensive and the role played by American artists living in Britain.This is the first text to document in detail the variegated responses of British artists to postwar America and its art, criticism and mass media. Their reactions that ranged from Americanism – enthusiasm and compliance – to Anti-Americanism – criticism and resistance. Covering significant art movements such as Abstract Expressionism, the Independent Group and Pop Art, Walker synthesises information from hundreds of published sources and interviews to paint a vivid picture of a crucial period in British culture. Many of the critics, painters and sculptors featured – Lawrence Alloway, Peter Blake, Reyner Banham, Anthony Caro, Clement Greenberg, David Hockney, Richard Hamilton, R.B. Kitaj, John Latham, Claes Oldenburg, Eduardo Paolozzi, Herbert Read, Bridget Riley, Larry Rivers – are now internationally famous. The study is brought up to date with an overview of the decline in American influence during in the 1980s and 1990s and the rise of Brit Art.

When art hits the headlines, it is usually because it has caused offence or is perceived by the media to have shock-value. Over the last fifty years many artists have been censored, vilified, accused of blasphemy and obscenity, threatened with violence, prosecuted and even imprisoned. Their work has been trashed by the media and physically attacked by the public.In Art & Outrage, John A. Walker covers the period from the late 1940s to the 1990s to provide the first detailed survey of the most prominent cases of art that has scandalised. The work of some of Britain’s leading, and less well known, painters and sculptors of the post-war period is considered, such as Richard Hamilton, Bryan Organ, Rachel Whiteread, Reg Butler, Damien Hirst, Jamie Wagg, Barry Flanagan and Antony Gormley. Included are works made famous by the media, such as Carl Andre’s Tate Gallery installation of 120 bricks, Rick Gibson’s foetus earrings, Anthony-Noel Kelly’s cast body-parts sculptures and Marcus Harvey’s portrait of Myra Hindley. Walker describes how each incident emerged, considers the arguments for and against, and examines how each was concluded. While broadly sympathetic to radical contemporary art, Walker has some residual sympathy for the layperson’s bafflement and antagonism. This is a scholarly yet accessible study of the interface between art, society and mass media which offers an alternative history of post-war British art and attitudes.

Can fine art survive in an age of mass media? If so, in what forms and to what purpose? And can radical art still play a critical role in today's divided world? These are the questions addressed in the Art in the Age of Mass Media, as John Walker examines the fascinating relationship between art and mass media, and the myriad interactions between high and low culture in a postmodern, culturally pluralistic world. Using a range of historic and contemporary works of art, Walker explores the variety of ways in which artists have responded to the arrival of new, mass media. He ranges from the socialist paintings of Courbet to the anti-Nazi photomontages of Heartfield, from community murals and Keith Haring's use of graffiti to the kitsch self-promotion associated with Jeff Koons. The new edition describes what happened during the 1990s, including Toscani's adverts for Benetton, the simulations of Leeds 13, art and cinema, Damien Hirst, and the cyberart currently being produced for the internet.

John Walker brings to vivid life a neglected period in twentieth-century art history. He re-creates a time when visual fine artists, under the impact of left-wing politics, women's liberation and the gay movement, were seeking to re-establish a social purpose. His story is one of a struggle for art by contending factions in the art world, in which artists, curators, critics and organisations - both establishment and alternative - key exhibitions, galleries and magazines, all play a part. He offers welcome insight into the work of the key players and the many forms they used to express radical engagement in the events of the decade.

This book, first published in 1987, was the first major survey of the links between the visual arts and pop music over the last thirty years. It brings to light the ideas, styles and people who have influenced both the look of pop and the shape of art. It examines how pop uses art movements like Dada, Futurism and Surrealism in everything from the design of album covers to the creation of a group’s look, stage act and video; how art uses pop, as a subject for painting, sculpture and design; the vital role of the British art school connection; and collaborations and cross-overs – between the visual arts and groups, musicians and movements.

This book, first published in 1987, was the first major survey of the links between the visual arts and pop music over the last thirty years. It brings to light the ideas, styles and people who have influenced both the look of pop and the shape of art. It examines how pop uses art movements like Dada, Futurism and Surrealism in everything from the design of album covers to the creation of a group’s look, stage act and video; how art uses pop, as a subject for painting, sculpture and design; the vital role of the British art school connection; and collaborations and cross-overs – between the visual arts and groups, musicians and movements.

This book grew out of a nine-month course first given during 1976-77 in the Division of Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas (Austin), and repeated during 1977-78 in the Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University. Most of the students were in their second year of graduate study, and all were familiar with Fourier series, Lebesgue integration, Hilbert space, and ordinary differential equa­ tions in finite-dimensional space. This book is primarily an exposition of certain methods of topological dynamics that have been found to be very useful in the analysis of physical systems but appear to be well known only to specialists. The purpose of the book is twofold: to present the material in such a way that the applications-oriented reader will be encouraged to apply these methods in the study of those physical systems of personal interest, and to make the coverage sufficient to render the current research literature intelligible, preparing the more mathematically inclined reader for research in this particular area of applied mathematics. We present only that portion of the theory which seems most useful in applications to physical systems. Adopting the view that the world is deterministic, we consider our basic problem to be predicting the future for a given physical system. This prediction is to be based on a known equation of evolution, describing the forward-time behavior of the system, but it is to be made without explicitly solving the equation.

This book grew out of a nine-month course first given during 1976-77 in the Division of Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas (Austin), and repeated during 1977-78 in the Department of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University. Most of the students were in their second year of graduate study, and all were familiar with Fourier series, Lebesgue integration, Hilbert space, and ordinary differential equa­ tions in finite-dimensional space. This book is primarily an exposition of certain methods of topological dynamics that have been found to be very useful in the analysis of physical systems but appear to be well known only to specialists. The purpose of the book is twofold: to present the material in such a way that the applications-oriented reader will be encouraged to apply these methods in the study of those physical systems of personal interest, and to make the coverage sufficient to render the current research literature intelligible, preparing the more mathematically inclined reader for research in this particular area of applied mathematics. We present only that portion of the theory which seems most useful in applications to physical systems. Adopting the view that the world is deterministic, we consider our basic problem to be predicting the future for a given physical system. This prediction is to be based on a known equation of evolution, describing the forward-time behavior of the system, but it is to be made without explicitly solving the equation.

John A. Walker Jr. was a Chief Warrant Officer and communications specialist for the US Navy. In 1985, he was arrested for selling classified secrets to the Soviet Union. Upon his arrest it was revealed that he had been acting as a spy from 1968 to 1985 and that his son, brother, ex-wife, and an acquaintance had also participated in the espionage ring. Altogether, their actions constituted one of the most serious security breaches in US history. In 1990, the New York Times stated, "Mr. Walker provided enough code-data information to alter significantly the balance of power between Russia and the United States."What motivated a career naval officer to become a spy during the height of the Cold War? Over the years, statements by Walker have been reported in various books, newspapers, and other media outlets, but Walker has never told his own story-till now. Walker has decided to make public a private document that he originally wrote for his children to explain his actions. Among the reasons he gives for publishing this work is the following statement:"As I grew older, I came to understand that the wars that had taken place during my entire life were just a symptom of a larger national policy. I watched my uncles and aunt go off to World War II, my brother to Korea, and myself to Vietnam, all of which were waged on foundations of lies. Voltaire said that history is a lie agreed upon by historians. How true."I cannot classify myself as a visionary or idealist, but just a simple citizen who became angry by the government lies. I did conclude that the US system of government was broken, so I felt justified in breaking some rules in order to help save it.... Why did I feel responsible or qualified to end the pattern of perpetual war? I cannot answer my own questions. But then, my insane stunt seemed to have worked. By the admission of both the US and the USSR, I provided the most extensive intelligence ever to the Soviets. With my material in hand, the Soviet government eventually realized the US planned no attack upon them, so my actions have contributed greatly to the Soviet Union's decision to end the Cold War."

When art hits the headlines, it is usually because it has caused offence or is perceived by the media to have shock-value. Over the last fifty years many artists have been censored, vilified, accused of blasphemy and obscenity, threatened with violence, prosecuted and even imprisoned. Their work has been trashed by the media and physically attacked by the public.In Art & Outrage, John A. Walker covers the period from the late 1940s to the 1990s to provide the first detailed survey of the most prominent cases of art that has scandalised. The work of some of Britain’s leading, and less well known, painters and sculptors of the post-war period is considered, such as Richard Hamilton, Bryan Organ, Rachel Whiteread, Reg Butler, Damien Hirst, Jamie Wagg, Barry Flanagan and Antony Gormley. Included are works made famous by the media, such as Carl Andre’s Tate Gallery installation of 120 bricks, Rick Gibson’s foetus earrings, Anthony-Noel Kelly’s cast body-parts sculptures and Marcus Harvey’s portrait of Myra Hindley. Walker describes how each incident emerged, considers the arguments for and against, and examines how each was concluded. While broadly sympathetic to radical contemporary art, Walker has some residual sympathy for the layperson’s bafflement and antagonism. This is a scholarly yet accessible study of the interface between art, society and mass media which offers an alternative history of post-war British art and attitudes.

An essential overview as well as a theoretical critique for all students of design history. Walker studies the intellectual discipline of Design History and the issues that confront scholars writing histories of design. Taking his approach from a range of related fields, he discusses the problems of defining design and writing history. He considers the different methods that leading scholars have used in the absence of a theoretical framework, and looks critically at a number of histories of design and architecture.

The growing cult of the celebrity in contemporary culture is throwing up paradoxical ideas about the contradictions between ''high'' art and mass appeal and blurring the already unstable boundaries between art, commodity and popular culture. This is a lively and accessible study of the phenomenon, informed by a look at what happens when the ''serious'' world of art collides with celebrity. Global culture is now dominated by celebrities, some of whom, like Madonna and Stallone, are art collectors and some, like Dennis Hopper and David Bowie, are part-time artists. Walker explains how artists such as Warhol, Gavin Turk, Jeff Koons, Elizabeth Peyton and Alison Jackson contribute to, but also critique, the cult of celebrity by depicting film celebrities, rock stars and royalty in paintings and statues. Celebritisation has overtaken the art world too: Walker surveys 14 art stars of the twentieth century from Dali to Tracey Emin. He also reviews alternatives: the left wing pantheon of figures such as Mao, Che Guevara and Rosa Luxemburg, and pictorial celebrations of the people.

Can fine art survive in an age of mass media? If so, in what forms and to what purpose? And can radical art still play a critical role in today''s divided world? These are the questions addressed in the Art in the Age of Mass Media, as John Walker examines the fascinating relationship between art and mass media, and the myriad interactions between high and low culture in a postmodern, culturally pluralistic world. Using a range of historic and contemporary works of art, Walker explores the variety of ways in which artists have responded to the arrival of new, mass media. He ranges from the socialist paintings of Courbet to the anti-Nazi photomontages of Heartfield, from community murals and Keith Haring''s use of graffiti to the kitsch self-promotion associated with Jeff Koons. The new edition describes what happened during the 1990s, including Toscani''s adverts for Benetton, the simulations of Leeds 13, art and cinema, Damien Hirst, and the cyberart currently being produced for the internet.