Speed : Visions of an Accelerated Age

Abstract

A major publication as part of an international project organised by The Photographers Gallery and Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, the Netherlands Design Institute in Amsterdam, and the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre in Guelph. Contains texts (many in reprint) by more than twenty authors – including renowned writers such as Virilio, Ballard, Wollen and Illich – who address the theme of speed from diverse perspectives: social, cultural, scientific, literary, philosophical, art historical, environmental, etc. Numerous issues are considered in relation to the desire for speed in modern technological culture. Topics discussed include: landscape, transportation and communications technologies, mobility and links between cinema and the Autobahn (highway) within the context of Nazi Germany. Includes photographs of selected works from exhibitions at The Photographers Gallery, the Whitechapel Art Gallery and the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre; thematic images selected by the editors with texts by J.G. Ballard; list of works; brief biographical notes. Circa 250 bibl. ref