Wayward Distractions
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Buddhist Masters of Modern China
Author: Benjamin Brose
language: en
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Release Date: 2025-05-27
Through the life stories and translated writings of eight masters, modern Chinese Buddhism comes to life for English readers for the first time. Amidst the Chinese political revolutions and cultural upheavals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a group of dedicated and determined monks, nuns, and laypeople labored to reinvigorate the core practices and teachings of Buddhist China. These men and women—credited with instigating a “Buddhist revival”—overcame a series of obstacles to shore up the foundations of vibrant Buddhist traditions and ensure their transmission to future generations. Their legacies now underlay all the Buddhist teachings practiced throughout China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese diaspora today. This ambitious collection introduces the lives and teachings of eight of these exceptional teachers. Brief but engaging biographies are set against accessible translations of key Buddhist teachings. We are introduced to Chan masters, Pure Land patriarchs, creative visionaries, disciplined renunciants, accomplished poets, and sophisticated scholars. These carefully crafted essays take the reader through the struggles and triumphs of Buddhists living through the transformative twentieth century in China. In a long-overdue portrait of modern Chinese Buddhism, we encounter truly remarkable individuals whose hard-won insights remain sources of inspiration and understanding for anyone interested in the history and practice of Buddhism.
Goth
Author: Michael Bibby
language: en
Publisher: Duke University Press
Release Date: 2007-04-11
Since it first emerged from Britain’s punk-rock scene in the late 1970s, goth subculture has haunted postmodern culture and society, reinventing itself inside and against the mainstream. Goth: Undead Subculture is the first collection of scholarly essays devoted to this enduring yet little examined cultural phenomenon. Twenty-three essays from various disciplines explore the music, cinema, television, fashion, literature, aesthetics, and fandoms associated with the subculture. They examine goth’s many dimensions—including its melancholy, androgyny, spirituality, and perversity—and take readers inside locations in Los Angeles, Austin, Leeds, London, Buffalo, New York City, and Sydney. A number of the contributors are or have been participants in the subculture, and several draw on their own experiences. The volume’s editors provide a rich history of goth, describing its play of resistance and consumerism; its impact on class, race, and gender; and its distinctive features as an “undead” subculture in light of post-subculture studies and other critical approaches. The essays include an interview with the distinguished fashion historian Valerie Steele; analyses of novels by Anne Rice, Poppy Z. Brite, and Nick Cave; discussions of goths on the Internet; and readings of iconic goth texts from Bram Stoker’s Dracula to James O’Barr’s graphic novel The Crow. Other essays focus on gothic music, including seminal precursors such as Joy Division and David Bowie, and goth-influenced performers such as the Cure, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson. Gothic sexuality is explored in multiple ways, the subjects ranging from the San Francisco queercore scene of the 1980s to the increasing influence of fetishism and fetish play. Together these essays demonstrate that while its participants are often middle-class suburbanites, goth blurs normalizing boundaries even as it appears as an everlasting shadow of late capitalism. Contributors: Heather Arnet, Michael Bibby, Jessica Burstein, Angel M. Butts, Michael du Plessis, Jason Friedman, Nancy Gagnier, Ken Gelder, Lauren M. E. Goodlad, Joshua Gunn, Trevor Holmes, Paul Hodkinson, David Lenson, Robert Markley, Mark Nowak, Anna Powell, Kristen Schilt, Rebecca Schraffenberger, David Shumway, Carol Siegel, Catherine Spooner, Lauren Stasiak, Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock
A Mind in Motion: the Art of Charles H. Forrester
A retrospective on the life and work of the gifted sculptor, Charles H. Forrester (1928-2010), reveals a man whose mind was in constant motion. His artwork spans six decades and is lavishly illustrated with commentary from art historians and contemporary artists. A Mind in Motion: The Art of Charles H. Forrester offers an in-depth guide into the mind and artistic legacy of the artist. Curated by his daughter, Winifred, the book vividly presents more than eighty stunning images organized by ten distinct categories and five creative series of his most significant artwork. This richly visual coffee table book will appeal to art lovers everywhere. Forrester was the master of the visual pun and comes to life through his legacy — sculptures, paintings and drawings, and journals. He was especially adept at working with the human figure, creating abstract figurative forms in materials ranging from welded steel to laminated-plywood. His engineering prowess was reflected in his kinetic sphere sculptures and wire suspension works. He captured startlingly realistic details, yet his works are highly stylized – often twisted into sly visual puzzles and riddles. The artist’s large concrete outdoor sculptures across the United States and England are among his most well-known works, but he also created many smaller sculptures cast in bronze and aluminum. With roots in New York and the Pacific Northwest, and as a teacher for thirty years in England and Kentucky, Forrester’s work directly impacted generations of sculptors and artists. His frequent sabbaticals and residencies in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas provided him inspiration for his life-long creativity. In 1998, Forrester and his wife, Dorothy, moved to East Nashville, where he maintained a studio up until his death in 2010. The late artist’s sculptures have been exhibited nationwide, receiving numerous awards. Some of Forrester’s more notable public artwork was commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce, Springfield, Oregon; Medford, Oregon public parks; Shakespeare Memorial Theater in Ashland, Oregon; the Bundy Art Museum, Waitsfield, Vermont; Broughton High School, Salford, England; Bowling Green-Warren County, Kentucky Hospital; and Northern Telecom, Nashville, Tennessee Additional contributors to the book are: John Forrester, son of Charles Forrester, Rome, Italy; Russ Faxon, sculptor, Bell Buckle, TN; Caroline Phillips, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon; Sam Hunt, Adjunct Professor of Art, Western Kentucky University.