Gestures

Description

Defining gesture as "a movement of the body or of a tool attached to the body for which there is no satisfactory causal explanation," Vilem Flusser moves around the topic from diverse angles. He analyzes each gesture as the expression of a particular form of consciousness, that is, as a particular relationship between the world and the one who gestures.

Vilem Flusser (1920-1991) was born in Prague; emigrated to Brazil, where he taught philosophy and wrote a daily newspaper column; and later moved to France. Among his many books that have been translated into English are Does Writing Have a Future?, Into the Universe of Technical Images, and Writings, all from Minnesota. Nancy Ann Roth is an arts writer and critic based in the UK. She previously translated Does Writing Have a Future? and Into the Universe of Technical Images.

"Flusser transforms gesture to the level of metaphor, offering deep, sometimes metaphysical, interpretation of the human condition. Though it resists being put in a particular disciplinary niche, Gestures will surely become a standard for the many scholars who have already debated or acknowledged the value of Flusser's claims."-CHOICE "Flusser's book transcends the time in which it was written."-International Journal of Communication "Flusser's writings have a more accessible style, offering precise examples and analogies to specify key concepts. For this reason, the work of Flusser, especially Gestures, eclectically engages with deconstructive paradigms of philosophy at a level accessible to undergraduate students and academics."-Screen Bodies