David Byrne: Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information [Hardcover]

There's obviously more to this book and DVD than simply "David Byrne" - there's a sorely needed look at just how some of the simplest and most seemingly benign aspects of our lives can inculcate us into a certain manner of being or indoctrinate us into a specific world view. We often use tools and or processes as if on auto-pilot and the nuances escape like nibbling gerbils in a shoebox. That is the basic underlying theme of this work, regardless of one's opinion of the artwork or the, what seems to be, over emphasis on a Microsoft product.

Byrne says as much in the book's "exegesis": Microsoft Powerpoint, through the use of such make-it-as-easy-as-possible tools - "wizards" or "auto content managers" - has the ability to sink into our daily lives and affect our behavior and opinions on things if used uncautiously (really, like anything else in the world). On the flip - and far less pernicious - side, such tools can be downright fun to play with if one lets themselves go and thinks of the tool outside of its original purpose. So, again, in the "exegesis", Byrne makes an assumption: Powerpoint is a means of expression much in the way that finger paints, clay, or crayons are. He assumes that Powerpoint can be utilized as an art form. In this way the software takes on a new life, and forces someone to look at it in an entirely new way. It's not just for boring business presentations anymore! Wake up, people, it's fun!!

All of the above is not readily apparent if one dives into the accompanying DVD tabula rasa. At first sight, one is bound to find the work frivolous and maybe even juvenille or pretentious. At the very least these pieces will probably evoke the typical question of "why?" The answer to this useful interrogative word is that these pieces are not meant as ends unto themselves, but as processes, as ways of evoking new ways of thinking about something most of us take for granted. By the very asking a new way of thinking can open up. So, whether or not one appreciates these pieces as works of art is probably not the point of this project. Seeing everyday things in a new and playful way is probably more on cue than any pure aesthetic or artistic endeavors.

I'll admit straight out that this book and DVD has influenced the way I look at Powerpoint. Being one of the few survivors of the recent Information Systems employment slaughter, I use Powerpoint frequently and witness the Powerpoint presentations of others a little too frequently. The other day I actually sat down and played with Powerpoint. It was fun, I almost hate to admit it. I sent my work to some co-workers and asked them to "be ready to present on this 7am Monday morning". Of course it was all nonsense in Spanish, English, French, and Japanese complete with unconnected twirling and dissolving pictures and meaningless pulsating charts and graphs. I'm not sure what my co-workers thought of it, but I had fun.

There's more to this work than a glance can capture. Deep down there's mostly fun and a new perspective that can be applied to all avenues of one's mundane business life and software.

Unfortunaltly being original is not enough positive to excuse paying $56 for a book. So this perchase should be relegated to either the wealthy and curious, or the David Byrne fans (like this reviewer).

However for those of you who might buy this book, Mr. Byrne doesn't dissapoint for the most part. Peoples issue ith Byrne is his need to be original instead of being great. The result is interesting, but not always worthwhile, with the Talking Heads his bandmates always kept him grounded for the most part and it wasn't until their split in '88 that his eccentricities really showed, musically his ambitions have ranged from trip hop, to Latin, to garage, to space, and back. Artistically his work has reflected his love of small things, he would photograph chairs, pipes, upside down body parts, etc. There was of course a certain sence of irony that came with these images, he made the human body look funny and made a big deal out of common household items, they were detached, alienating, and to some dadaist extent, beutiful.

This images are either complete originals or taken from advertisements, at their best they take images we might see on TV and twists their meaning into themes of technology alienating our lives, especially the digital phrenology stuff at the end. HOwever as previously stated, while Byrne has become more intinatly aquainted with the medium than on his previous effort, "Your Action World" he is still limited by it.

If you have the money and the desire, then pick it up, but don't go out of your way, its not particularly inspiring to an artist, but merely a point of interest.