Book of Ice [Hardcover]

As the encyclopedia defines the author, 'Paul D. Miller known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid (born in 1970), is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author. He borrowed his stage name from the character The Subliminal Kid in the novel Nova Express by William S. Burroughs. He is a Professor of Music Mediated Art at the European Graduate School.' In this strikingly original and well-designed book this amazing man makes his case for a worldwide appreciation for the majesty and complex history of the Antarctica. In writing this book, an aspect of his multi-dimensional performance art TERRA NOVA: SINFONIA ANTARCTICA, Miller combines interviews, with Princeton Professor Elena Glasberg on his TERRA NOVA project and with Tobias C. Van Veen about the concept of Afrofuturism, historical photographs of the many expeditions to the Antarctica, pure graphic design informed by Miller's music, maps, and important observations about climate change and the entire realm of global ecology and the future of this planet.

One of the many interesting 'essay' or discussions with the reader is Miller's history of the land that belongs to no man - beginning in 350 BC through the naming of the Straits of Magellan in 1519 through events in expeditions and in literature that focused attention of this vast continent to the 1959 Antarctica Treaty agreeing that the continent be demilitarized and 'shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes' through the events in the 1990 and in the decade of 2000 that threatened to alter the wildlife of the continent to the 2007-2008 travel by Miller to the Antarctica when he wrote the TERRA NOVA (a digital media symphony). And as if this weren't enough to stimulate the interest of the reader, Miller introduces a series of graphic designs that declare his intention for a People's Republic of Antarctica.

Miller has selected his obsession with the continent of Antarctica as a focus to examine man's relationship to the natural world. His opening description of the gradual evolution of the fiery hot planet that took billions of years to cool to the point that ice could form allows his a platform to talk about the possibility of the retrograde action that is already in progress. This is the artful work of a sensitive man, a man gifted in many areas of art and philosophy who has elected to place before the public a Book of Ice that is instructive, entertaining, and a deeply thought provoking book of wonder. The book is in the hands of Mark Batty Publisher so the quality of the design of the book is a given. Grady Harp, July 11

› Go to Amazon.com to see the review  5.0 out of 5 stars