1
of
1
Organic Modernism
From the British Bauhaus to Cybernetics
Brief Description
When artists, scientists, and designers unite they create new ways of thinking and alternative paths to problem solving. The first book to trace the story of British organic modernism, this ground-breaking open access study tells the story of a collective culture of artists, scientists, and designers...
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$13600
Unit price
/
Unavailable
International Supplier
This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Organic Modernism
$13600
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Latest News
From Page to Panel: The Rise of Graphic Novel Adaptations
Discover why graphic novel adaptations are booming, from ‘Dune’ and ‘Sapiens’ to ‘Call Me by...
Why You Should Read Folk Horror!
If you're looking for a new read and haven't yet tried Folk Horror as a...
Movie Review on The End of Oak Street
Lizzy and Roopa are sharing their reviews of The End of Oak Street, a movie...
We Expanded Our Board Game Range…400+ New Games in Stock Now!
Board game week has arrived at Book Hero! 🎲 We’ve expanded our range, with 400...
What We Played: A Weekend Full of Board Games
What happens when you fill an entire weekend with board games? From family games with...
See moreThe book traces the collaborations of organicist artists, scientists, and designers in the UK across the 20th-century, revealing how the original Bauhaus ideal of interdisciplinary unity evolved into cybernetics, epigenetics, and second-order cybernetics in art and design in the 1970s.
The book traces the collaborations of organicist artists, scientists, and designers in the UK across the 20th-century, revealing how the original Bauhaus ideal of interdisciplinary unity evolved into cybernetics, epigenetics, and second-order cybernetics in art and design in the 1970s.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
When artists, scientists, and designers unite they create new ways of thinking and alternative paths to problem solving.
The first book to trace the story of British organic modernism, this ground-breaking open access study tells the story of a collective culture of artists, scientists, and designers in the 20th century united by a holistic understanding of the organic world and devoted to collaboration, cooperation, and cross-pollination of the arts and biological sciences.
Tracing how artists, scientists, and designers cooperated in various capacities from the Great Depression to postwar cybernetics, this book follows the evolution of philosophical organicism from the British Bauhaus, modern architecture, and surrealism; through to post-war socialism, the welfare state, epigenetics, biology-based art exhibitions; robotic art and design, cybernetics and ecology in art. Reacting against blunt reductionism, organic modernists implemented organicist and emergentist philosophies in scientific labs, design studios, and art ateliers, embracing complexity to solve problems in various scales and arenas, from cells to socialism. Their actions offer a template for finding meaningful agency and problem solving in today's world fraught by global climate disaster, ever-expanding economic inequalities, and backsliding democracy.
A sequel to Terranova's Art as Organism: Biology and the Evolution of the Digital Image (2016), Organic Modernism reveals the biological roots of cybernetics in the British context.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Edith O'Donnell Institute of Art History.
Series: Biotechne: Interthinking Art, Science and Design
View all-
Organic Modernism
When artists, scientists, and designers unite they create new ways of thinking and alternative paths to problem solving. The first book to trace the story of British organic modernism, this ground-breaking open access study tells the story of a collective culture of artists, scientists, and designers in the 20th century united by a holistic understanding of the organic world and...Paperback$13600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
Viral Behaviors
In a new era of global virology that requires novel methodologies to improve the comprehension of viruses and viral phenomena, Viral Behaviors explores the cultural, material, and artistic significance of viral agents. Across a rich variety of case studies stemming from different areas of interest—covering literature, the graphic arts and scientific visualization, as well as performance, installation and bioart—this book...Paperback$13500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
Space Feminisms
This book examines the history and future of space as a site of social justice and gender equality. Rather than simply a platform for imagining the future, it cultivates alternative modes of inquiry around space as a possible speculative platform for social and cultural enquiry. Bringing together essayistic reflections, artworks, and interviews with space scientists, engineers, and astronauts past and...Paperback$5499Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Sea Currents in Nineteenth-Century Art, Science and Culture
How did scientists, artists, designers, manufacturers and amateur enthusiasts experience and value the sea and its products? Taking a fresh approach to oceanic history, Sea Currents in Nineteenth-Century Art, Science and Culture brings together material culture, oceanography, and environmental history to uncover marine object and display histories and the role they played in nineteenth-century culture. Scientific exploration, colonial expansion, industrialization,...PaperbackSold Out
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781350227576
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 28 May 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Illustration: 16 colour & 71 bw illus
Audience: Tertiary education
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 20.0mm
Width: 152.0mm
Height: 232.0mm
Weight: 480g
Pages: 304
About the Author
Charissa N. Terranova is Margaret M. McDermott Distinguished Chair in Art and Aesthetic Studies and Professor of Art and Architectural History at the University of Texas at Dallas, USA
More from Arts & Culture
View all-
Dylan's PickBold Types
A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...Hardback$5999Elsewhere:$7000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseDisney Moana: The Official Cookbook
Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...Hardback$4499Elsewhere:$5299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to WinDid I Ever Tell You This?
In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...Paperback$3799Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
They Bloom Because of You
Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to Win14% offLeaves of Grass
A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...Hardback$1900Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
37% offGreat Writers and the Cats who Owned Them
Throughout history, cats and writers have bonded together in a magical combination of comfort, companionship and inspiration. The famous authors featured here range from Samuel Johnson, whose cat Hodge dined on oysters, and Edward Lear, whose charismatic cat Foss was missing half his tail, to Margaret Mitchell, L. M. Montgomery and Dorothy L. Sayers, who rescued her kitten Blitz from...Hardback$2500Usually:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Pre-order
Home Again
Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoir Home Again.This is more than a rock story. Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableOut 25 Aug 2026Pre-order -
Beautiful Chaos
The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...Paperback$2900Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Devotions
New York Times Bestseller, chosen as Oprah's 'Books That Help Me Through' for Oprah's Book Club Chosen by Poetry Book Society as their special commendation 'No matter where one starts reading, Devotions offers much to love, from Oliver's exuberant dog poems to selections from the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive, and Dream Work, one of her exceptional collections. Perhaps more important,...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
New ReleaseRoadscapes
For four decades, photographer Derek Smith has explored the way New Zealanders travel, work, and express themselves through the vehicles they drive. Roadscapes is his compelling photographic journey through the heartland of New Zealand, capturing our unique car cultures and the social landscapes they inhabit across Aotearoa.Hardback$3699Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour
The creative journey continues with Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour by Keri Smith, the latest and most vibrant edition of the groundbreaking series that redefined journaling. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this edition brings the playful destructiveness of the original to life in dazzling full colour, adding a dynamic new dimension to the beloved prompts. Whether you're a seasoned Wreck-er,...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
