Postscripts
Looking at Clarke
By Clay Smith, Fri., March 13, 1998
UT art history professor John Clarke has a friend, an artist, who says of his own artwork that "What I'm trying to do is make this art seem strange to you." That's exactly what Clarke attempts in his new book from University of California Press, Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250. At first glance - and there are plenty in a book this stacked with images - that wouldn't seem to be such a difficult task. Clarke means, though, that in analyzing the subject matter, he attempts to distance the reader from late 20th-century conceptions of sexuality. With typical clarity, he writes that "When modern archaeologists and writers separate these images from their architectural contexts - by cutting them away from the walls or publishing them without reference to their architectural settings - the paintings become part of our 20th-century ideas of what is erotic." It's too early to cite adoption of the book by university classes, but that's no worry since one of the admirable things about Clarke's voice is his ability to speak beyond the academy. The book is sized larger than a typical hardback but smaller than a coffeetable book, which puts it in a different category than unappealing textbook-sized books. Clarke has been at UT for 17 years...See this week's article on the African Literature Association's 24th conference (to be held March 25-29), but for more information visit http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~ala...
On Sunday, March 15, 2pm, a Poetry and Pot Luck Benefit happens to help fund costs associated with bringing visiting poets to Austin for the Austin International Poetry Festival, April 7-11. Suggested donation is $10. Call 416-7435 for location or other information...
On Sunday, March 15, 1pm, Terra Toys (1708 S. Congress) reads William Joyce, author of Dinosaur Bob, among other titles...Volma Overton, president emeritus of the Austin branch of the NAACP, will discuss Eakin Press' new book about him, Volma: My Journey, by Carolyn Jones, on Tuesday, March 17, 6-7pm at Folktales...
The new artbook The Pictures of Texas Monthly, Twenty-Five Years, will make another appearance (along with five photographers from the magazine) in a panel discussion at Borders Saturday, March 14, 3pm. But immediately before that event, noon-2pm, is a book signing of Spamarama: The Cookbook, with a cooking demonstration. The co-authors of the cookbook will be there, as will Max Nofziger and John Kelso, among others.
Book news for "Postscripts" must be received at least one week prior to issue date. Mail to: The Austin Chronicle, PO Box 49066, Austin, TX, 78765; fax 458-6910.
