mugren's review
2.0
A small biography of Joseph Cornell as well as a guide to making a few boxes of one's own.
tambourine's review
4.0
This was quite a quick read as it's a small non-fiction book aimed at children, I think, so it's possibly cheating at add it to my 'read' list here. except my 'read' list isn't just a numbers game, & it's worth discussing & reviewing, I think.
It's a book in a box that's made up to look like one of Joseph Cornell's boxes, essentially. The book has a short biography of Cornell – suitable for children, and not particularly deep – then encourages readers to attempt their own collages and boxes, giving ideas for themes and methods of composition, as well as suggesting the kinds of objects that could be used. It serves as a great introduction to Cornell – and unlike some stuff I've read about him before, it doesn't patronise him. It shows him as competent, deep & very engaged in the arts that surrounded him - it doesn't fetishise some idea of "outsider art", doesn't go on and on about how he rarely left New York. This is encouraging, & good for those who read this & use it to form their ideas about art both as an appreciator & as somebody who might want to actually do it. The projects it lists for readers to try out are, unavoidably, derivative, but that doesn't really matter – & a lot of the book is about imagination/evocation, about methods of thought more than methods of imitation.
I really, really liked it. It's deeper & more well considered than a lot of the twee books for children/adults that fill this same general field - like 'Destroy this book' or what have you. It serves as a good introduction to a great artist with a lot of beautiful photographs & astute writing about his art & method, & it tells us to go away and collect things ourselves. Beautiful.
It's a book in a box that's made up to look like one of Joseph Cornell's boxes, essentially. The book has a short biography of Cornell – suitable for children, and not particularly deep – then encourages readers to attempt their own collages and boxes, giving ideas for themes and methods of composition, as well as suggesting the kinds of objects that could be used. It serves as a great introduction to Cornell – and unlike some stuff I've read about him before, it doesn't patronise him. It shows him as competent, deep & very engaged in the arts that surrounded him - it doesn't fetishise some idea of "outsider art", doesn't go on and on about how he rarely left New York. This is encouraging, & good for those who read this & use it to form their ideas about art both as an appreciator & as somebody who might want to actually do it. The projects it lists for readers to try out are, unavoidably, derivative, but that doesn't really matter – & a lot of the book is about imagination/evocation, about methods of thought more than methods of imitation.
I really, really liked it. It's deeper & more well considered than a lot of the twee books for children/adults that fill this same general field - like 'Destroy this book' or what have you. It serves as a good introduction to a great artist with a lot of beautiful photographs & astute writing about his art & method, & it tells us to go away and collect things ourselves. Beautiful.
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