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An argument that—despite dramatic advances in the field—artificial intelligence is nowhere near developing systems that are genuinely intelligent. In this provocative book, Brian Cantwell Smith argues that artificial intelligence is nowhere near developing systems that are genuinely intelligent. Second wave AI, machine learning, even visions of third-wave AI: none will lead to human-level intelligence and judgment, which have been honed over millennia. Recent advances in AI may be of epochal significance, but human intelligence is of a different order than even the most powerful calculative ability enabled by new computational capacities. Smith calls this AI ability “reckoning,” and ...
The Bauhaus school in Germany has long been understood through the writings of its founding director, Walter Gropius, and well-known artists who taught there such as Wassily Kandinsky and László Moholy-Nagy. Far less recognized are texts by women in the school’s weaving workshop. In Bauhaus Weaving Theory, T’ai Smith uncovers new significance in the work the Bauhaus weavers did as writers. From colorful, expressionist tapestries to the invention of soundproofing and light-reflective fabric, the workshop’s innovative creations influenced a modernist theory of weaving. In the first careful examination of the writings of Bauhaus weavers, including Anni Albers, Gunta Stözl, and Otti Ber...
Fashion may be widely known as the 'child of capitalism', but to fully grasp how and why, we must return to the birth of the fashion economy in the 19th century. Using Karl Marx's discussion of the frock coat – a bourgeois menswear staple – as a focal point, this book examines the philosophies of clothing that began taking shape in art, literature and politics in capitalist 19th-century Europe and America. Telling the story of fashion and capitalism from multiple viewpoints – through Marxism, 19th-century visual culture and historic commentary on dress – Fashion After Capital connects primary visual artefacts, such as diagrams, patterns, plates and paintings, to the backdrop of the n...
This survey of textile fundamentals and methods, written by the foremost textile artist of the 20th century, covers hand weaving and the loom, fundamental construction and draft notation, modified and composite weaves, early techniques of thread interlacing, interrelation of fiber and construction, tactile sensibility, and design. 9 color illustrations. 112 black-and-white plates.
Master the Chinese martial art of T'ai Chi with this accessible, illustrated guide. T'ai-chi (Tai Chi) is an effortless and rhythmical art that stresses slow breathing, balanced and relaxed postures, and absolute calmness of mind. It requires no special equipment or place to practice and takes no more than ten minutes a day. This book, from renowned Tai Chi master, Cheng Man-Ch'ing, introduces T'ai-chi as a means to a healthier life, as a sport and as a method of self-defense. It is a complete step-by-step manual for the beginner. With conscientious practice, readers will master the sequence of thirty-seven postures that will make up the T'ai-chi solo exercise. Students will learn how to progress from exercise to sport to self-defense with maximum efficiency. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and more than 275 photographs and 122 foot-weighting diagrams guarantee an understanding of the correct form. A history of T'ai-chi, including thumbnail sketches of famous masters, and the first English translation of the basic T'ai-chi document, known as the T'ai-chi Ch'uan Classics, are also included.
We live in an incredible period in history. The Computer Revolution may be even more life-changing than the Industrial Revolution. We can do things with computers that could never be done before, and computers can do things for us that could never be done before. But our love of computers should not cloud our thinking about their limitations. We are told that computers are smarter than humans and that data mining can identify previously unknown truths, or make discoveries that will revolutionize our lives. Our lives may well be changed, but not necessarily for the better. Computers are very good at discovering patterns, but are useless in judging whether the unearthed patterns are sensible b...
The first in-depth study of a monumental wall hanging—rediscovered after many years—by renowned Bauhaus artist Anni Albers. Albers was influential in elevating textiles from craft to fine art. Her exquisite wall hanging Camino Real—seen in public for the first time since 1989 at David Zwirner, New York, in 2019, and the subject of this book—is a superb example of this modern master’s work. In 1967, noted architects Ricardo Legorreta and Luis Barragán commissioned Albers to create a work for the newly built Hotel Camino Real in Mexico City. Completed in 1968, her striking wall hanging Camino Real is heavily influenced by Latin American art and culture. Showcasing Albers’s approac...
An essential guide for T’ai Chi practitioners of all skill levels with an overview of basic principles and commentary on three classic internal martial arts texts According to Master Liao, the great power of T’ai Chi cannot be realized without knowing its inner meaning. T’ai Chi Classics presents the inner meaning and techniques of T’ai Chi movements through translations of three core classics of T’ai Chi, often considered the “T’ai Chi Bible”. Divided into three chapters, the guide explains how to increase inner energy (ch’i), transform it into inner power (jing), and project this inner power outward to repel an opponent without physical contact. Master Liao also provides a description of the entire sequence of T’ai Chi movements, illustrated by his own line drawings.
An unforgettable, breathless debut fiction by author Vann Chow, THE PACHINKO GIRL is the winning selection of a Canadian book award. Its colossal story has been regarded as a mix of psychological thriller, murder mystery, corporate espionage and more. The book also exposes a slew of human rights issues such as gender inequality, hyper-sexualization of teens, homosexual discrimination, racial discrimination, and workplace bullying among others in Japan through the eyes of a foreigner with his friends from different walks of lives and professions in her debut fiction series. Synopsis: An American businessman Smith who loved to linger in Pachinko parlors every night in his lonely life as a fore...
A compilation of Master T.T. Liang's teachings on T'ai-Chi, plus articles and stories about Master Liang.