10 NEW BOOKS ON BEAUTY IN TRANSITION

Image: Courtesy of BIS Publishers.

 

DESIGN TRANSITIONS: INSPIRING STORIES. GLOBAL VIEWPOINTS. HOW DESIGN IS CHANGING.

 

Transitions become evident when you look at design. Which came first: Life transitions or design transitions? The real answer is both.

 

“Design Transitions: Inspiring Stories. Global Viewpoints. How Design is Changing” by Joyce Yee, Emma Jefferies, and Lauren Tan,” presents 42 unique and insightful stories of how design is changing around the world.

 

Twelve countries are represented in the book, with from the perspectives of three different communities: design agencies, organizations embedding design, and design academics.

 

The book takes a look at how design practices, methods, tools, and thinking  are changing, from small practices to big corporations, to the fringes of the traditional disciplines of design.

 

Some of the organizations and individuals featured includes: Droog, BERG, Fjord, thinkpublic, FutureGov, Hakuhodo Innovation Lab, DesignThinkers Group, INSITUM, Optimal Usability, frog Asia, Ziba, Banny Banerjee, Ezio Manzini, Carlos Teixeira and Adam Greenfield.

 

Publisher: BIS Publishers (2013)

Image: Courtesy of Corraini Edizioni.

 

MARTÍ GUIXÉ: TRANSITION MENU: REVIEWING CREATIVE GASTRONOMY

 

Food is a design element, as are its accoutrements. “Martí Guixé: Transition Menu: Reviewing Creative Gastronomy,” by Octavi Rofes, Stephane Carpinelli, & Martí Guixé, explores theories on food design, using the story arc of a fictional character named Mar Lopez.

López transitions from chef and restaurant owner to food designer. The book showcases López’s fictional CV, as well as her kitchen concepts and menu design, complete with beautiful color photographs.

Guixé describes how each component of each dish transcends convention. And each dish is presented in conjunction with a short essay.

 

Transition Menu expands upon Guixé's research on food design and includes his personal edge-pushing theories, thoughts and notes.

 

Publisher: Corraini Edizioni (2014)

Image: Courtesy of First Edition Design Publishing.

 

FEMININE TRANSITIONS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC CELEBRATION OF NATURAL BEAUTY

 

Aging is a natural transition that many people fight because their cultures don’t value the different kind of beauty that it brings. But if you look at aging through a different lens, with an expanded definition of beauty, you will likely come to appreciate and celebrate these transitions.

 

“Feminine Transitions: A Photographic Celebration of Natural Beauty,” by Alyscia Cunningham, looks at women, from birth to old age, as they transition through many physical, psychological, and emotional phases. Their changing portraits are remarkable.

 

The book is filled with gorgeous non-photo-shopped full-color photos of women, from a 7-week old baby girl to a 103-year old, in their natural state, without makeup.

 

The process of photographing the portraits for the book turned out to be a transition for Cunningham herself. "I simply wanted to put together a body of work that fosters a woman's love for herself and encourages women to believe in their own beauty, despite the signs of aging."

 

Cunningham’s powerful work has also appeared in National Geographic, Discovery Channel, America Online and the Smithsonian Institution. See more on her website.

 

Publisher: First Edition Design Publishing (2013)

Image: Courtesy of University of California Press.

 

NEW ORLEANS SUITE: MUSIC AND CULTURE IN TRANSITION

 

New Orleans now measures its place in time by pre- and post-Katrina references. It is a city in transition as a result, not only of the storm-induced devastation, but of the storm-driven realities of the climate future that became impossible to ignore.

 

The landscape, architecture, and infrastructure have changed since Katrina hit, and they will continue to do so. But the changing cultural scene is important to check out as well. “New Orleans Suite: Music and Culture in Transition,” by Lewis Watts and Eric Porter, maps the recent, and often contradictory, social and cultural transformations that have been taking place, primarily within the city’s African American population.

 

With compelling photos and excellent music surveys that take us through these transitions, New Orleans Suite also aims to teach us about citizenship, politics, and society.

 

University of California Press; 1 edition (2013)

Image: Courtesy of The Monacelli Press.

 

OLD BUILDINGS, NEW FORMS

 

Architecture and design which blends the best of the old and new, have special benefits. They are more environmentally sustainable and cost effective and have unique beauty.  

 

“Old Buildings, New Forms,” by Françoise Bollack, presents 28 examples of contemporary additions to older buildings gathered in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Some are well known, such as Mass MOCA, Market Santa Caterina in Barcelona, and Neues Museum in Berlin, while others are relatively anonymous.

 

As the form and funtion transitions for these structures, new ideas emerge, both for the people using them and designers, as they eye their next transformative projects and move towards their next transitions.

 

Publisher: The Monacelli Press (2013)

Image: Courtesy of The Change Blog.

 

THE POSSIBILITY OF CHANGE: 10 TRUE STORIES OF PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION

 

Personal growth blogger, Peter Clemens, of The Change Blog, has gathered some of the best and most beautiful examples of personal change and transition in his new book, “The Possibility of Change: 10 True Stories of Personal Transformation,” as part of his "Possibility of Change" book series.

 

The stories are fascinating and compelling. You will likely be inspired by the beautiful possibilities.

 

Publisher: The Change Blog (2013)

Image: Courtesy of Vasculiterra Books.

 

YEAR OF THE SNAKE: CYCLES OF TRANSFORMATION

 

“Year Of The Snake: Cycles Of Transformation” is a work that includes Peiling Kao’s choreography, Jason Hoopes’ musical compositions, and a book written by Karl Jensen.

 

Year Of The Snake is a metaphor for “cycles of self-transformation.” As people transition through their life’s physical, emotional, and spiritual phases, they become vulnerable. They require strength and courage. This book is about self-transformation and what you choose to do within transitional processes that are in perpetual motion.

 

For more information - www.yearofthesnake.oakland.com

 

Vasculiterra Books (2013)

Image: Courtesy of American Alliance of Musician Press.

 

ART AND ENERGY: HOW CULTURE CHANGES

 

“Art & Energy: How Culture Changes,” by Barry Lord, presents the idea that human creativity is deeply linked to the resources available on earth for our survival.

 

The book’s premise is that from our ancient mastery of fire through our exploitation of coal, oil, and gas, to the development of today’s renewable energy sources, each new source of energy fundamentally transforms our art and culture — how we interact with the world, organize our communities, communicate, conceive of and assign value to art.

By analyzing art, artists, and museums across eras and continents, Lord demonstrates how our cultural values and artistic expressions are formed by our efforts to access and control the energy sources that make these cultures possible.

Ultimately, Art & Energy reveals how, in Lord’s words, “energy transition is a powerful engine of cultural change.”

 

Publisher: American Alliance of Museums Press (2014)

Image: Courtesy of Amazon Digital Services.

 

A TRAVEL GUIDE FOR TRANSITIONS: BECAUSE FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS MYSELF TOTALLY SUCKS

 

Transitions are journeys -- so why not use a travel guide? “A Travel Guide for Transitions: Because Freaking Out About This by Myself Totally Sucks,” by Lori Kane and Bas de Baar might be just what you need to help you navigate.

 

When transitions serendipitously present themselves, and we aren’t prepared, sometimes we get stuck and freak out, not knowing how to best leverage the changes underway. When we calm down enough to try to create new ideas that can help us get to our new destination points, we try new approaches, experiment, and eventually, if we are lucky, we find out new way.

 

When facing recent major life transitions, de Baar founded an imaginary country, while Kane turned her home into a public space. The book includes their diverse stories, as well as a collection of stories from others as each savors personal transitions.

 

Transition phases and exercise are featured in each chapter concept, including:

 

• play

• howling at the moon

• community and self-organizing groups

• creation of stories and maps

• collaborative space and coworking

• finding our cultures through ourselves

• radical acceptance, faith, surrender, and forgiveness
   

Each is a doorway to easier, more fluid, and more successful transitions.

 

The transition stories range from funny to sad to surprising to touching. Once you realize you have options, as you move through change, it calms your freak-out and begins to inspire you.

 

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (2013)

 

Image: Courtesy of Vine Leaves Press.

 

THE SIX SENSES IN A NUTSHELL: DEMONSRTATED TRANSITIONS FROM BLEAK TO BOLD NARRATIVE

 

Writing long form fiction or non-fiction is largely filled with the exercise of crafting transitions that lead the reader from one idea, place, or moment in time, to the next. A writer’s ability to create transitions that powerfully grab a reader by the scruff the of the neck and whisk the mind forward, backward, sideways, or into a whole new plane, is what separates the greats.

 

“The Six Senses in a Nutshell: Demonstrated Transitions from Bleak to Bold Narrative (Writing in a Nutshell Series) (Volume 3),” by Jessica Bell, shows how to use sensory information to set the moving scene. The sixth sense is intuition.

 

The book lays out eleven real transitional scenes which illustrate how utilizing the six senses can bring your writing to life. In each transition, you will find a BLEAK passage (prose lacking sensory information), and a BOLD passage (the BLEAK passage kicked up a few notches by evoking sensory memory and imagination.  

If you are looking for a writing workshop, in book form, this is definitely for you. Dispersed throughout the book are blank pages so you can take notes as you read. And you can try the selection of writing exercises provided.

Because the book is a pocket guide, it makes a great travel companion for writers who are in transit as well.

 

Publisher: Vine Leaves Press (2013)

Photo: Courtesy of All Web Design.

Read more about Beautiful Transitions, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact in our posts throughout this week.

Spread some peace and share your beautiful vision. Enter this week’s BN Competition. Our theme this week is Beautiful Transitions. Send in your images and ideas. Deadline is 01.05.14.