Stephen Bayley (1951 - )
Related: aesthetics - cultural criticism - criticism - design - style - taste - UK
Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things (1991) - Stephen Bayley
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Biography
Stephen Bayley, born in Cardiff in 1951 and educated at Manchester University and Liverpool School of Architecture is a British art critic and cultural critic. He writes for several newspapers and is a contributing editor of GQ. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Bayley [Oct 2005]
Stephen Bayley came to prominence as director of the Victoria & Albert Museum's Boilerhouse project in the 1980s with his famed design exhibitions on the Ford Sierra and the Coca-Cola bottle. Since then, Bayley has written countless articles and several books.
General Knowledge (2000) - Stephen Bayley
General Knowledge (2000) - Stephen Bayley
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Don't buy General Knowledge if you already have Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things (1991). General Knowledge reproduced the best of Taste without substantial additions.
General Knowledge brings together his collected writings, spanning his entire career. Covering a wide range of subjects such as art, taste, cars, design, commerce, food, culture, and the human condition, these witty pieces reveal the unpredictable and often polemical nature of Bayley's views. General knowledge includes a lively and personal introduction by Bayley himself, where he reflects on these essays with a fresh contemporary perspective.
Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things (1991) - Stephen Bayley
Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things (1991) - Stephen Bayley
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Taste forever changes, as the fluctuating reputations of Shakespeare and El Greco attest. On this central premise British design critic Bayley erects a witty, erudite, wide-ranging social history of taste that demolishes the gaudy, the meretricious, the ready-made and the vulgar, both high and low. He takes aim at the Duke and Duchess of Windsor ("forever in pursuit of a mythic gentility"), prim Scandinavian furniture as the presumed epitome of "good design," contemporary kitsch architecture a la Manhattan's Trump Tower and fashion designer Ralph Lauren ("he sells an image of an image, based on romanticized myths about the Wild West and WASP society"). This lavishly illustrated survey includes chapters on taste and lack thereof in art, architecture, interior design, clothes, food and manners. Intriguing observations abound: for instance, the length of a sneaker's tongue is a macho symbol among athletes, and the idea that tanned skin is attractive goes back no further than the pseudo-scientific theory of heliotherapy developed in the 1920s by German and Swiss doctors. --From Publishers Weekly, amazon.com see also secret, meaning
Sex: An Intimate Companion (2001) - Stephen Bayley (Editor)
Sex: An Intimate Companion - Stephen Bayley (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
An exploration of sex and sexuality. It consists of a selection of thematic articles, ranging from 2500 words down to 250, written by "Erotic Review" contributors and a few major international writers such as Norman Mailer and Camille Paglia. The articles cover a range of topics, from the snake in Eden to cybersex and Lara Croft, drawing on themes from aphrodisiac to fetishism, and relationships to prostitution. It is illustrated from the archives of the Erotic Print Society. Other contributors include Clive James, India Knight, Jonathon Green, Michael Bywater and Simon Raven. --via Amazon.com
It's the best-ever account of sex, with over 250 eye-popping illustrations (many of them rare) and utterly frank contributions from over 20 distinguished writers-including award-winning novelist Philip Hensher on dance, British Museum curator Catherine Johns on the eroticism of classical art, and Will Self on sex, drugs, and virtual reality. Architect John Pawson (designer of Calvin Klein's flagship Manhattan store) looks at the sensuousness of space and buildings. Trevor Beattie, creator of some of the hottest advertisements ever, reveals his inspirations. Yasmin Alibhia-Brown discusses Indian sensuality, while Lesley Downer explores the role of the geisha in Japan. Victoria Coren asks (and answers) what women want, while Ronald Hyam wonders "whether size matters." From religion and civilization to law and manners, sex and the arts to the body and technology, it's the most fun you can have.with a book in your hands. Bonus: a chronology of sex. --via Amazon.com