Hardback, colour and black and white illustrations, 256 pages, W215mm X H250mm
This volume takes the reader on a visual tour of far-flung and
fleeting, beautiful and bizarre manmade events, revealing that
contemporary life is increasingly influenced by the idea of spectacle.
Features here are a wide range of international spectacles, from the
Olympic Games to the Running of the Bulls in Spain, the Holi Festival
in India, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Also
included are twenty interviews with influential cultural figures such
as art critic Dave Hickey, film director John Waters, prizefighter
Muhammad Ali, theater director Julie Taymor, Las Vegas developer Steve
Wynn, architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, and an essay by
New York Times critic Herbert Muschamp.
A tribute to the art of
celebration, Spectacle documents those public performances and
happenings that galvanize crowds of people and, if only for a brief
moment, forge a bond among strangers