Author Archives: Propagandum

About Propagandum

I’ve been working in book publishing for over 30 years – an industry now in rapid transition. So I’m interested in foundational principles for media, writing and language – what lessons can we learn for how we can and should communicate? How can we make sense of media/technology? Can we transfer some skills from the old to the new? I hope to share (every week-ish) some things I think are wonderful, rich and important. I write longish posts because our complex and fascinating world cannot be reduced to soundbites. Please let me know what you think – contact me at david@propagandum.com

Leonardo da Vinci: Philosopher and scientist? #2, People in landscapes

Posted on 20 December 2012 by Propagandum

What does ‘philosophy’ mean when we look at paintings? Perhaps it’s a way of making sense of our place in the world – I’m thinking about places and worlds as painters might, specifically as landscapes. I’ve assumed painters see (literally) … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Media analysis, Writing | Tagged Art and philosophy, Art criticism, Art theory, Gainsborough, Jackson Pollock, John Berger, Leonardo da Vinci, Modern art, Philosophy of science, Richard Dawkins, Virgin of the Rocks | 3 Comments

Leonardo da Vinci: Philosopher and scientist? #1

Posted on 15 November 2012 by Propagandum

Benvenuto Cellini was a virtuoso Renaissance goldsmith, sculptor and wildly indiscreet autobiographer. Yet he soberly recorded King François I of France as saying ‘there had never been born another man in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Business, Media analysis, Medicine | Tagged Anatomy, Dante, Duchamp, Gestalt, Hayward Gallery, Information design, Large Glass, Leonardo app, Leonardo da Vinci, Metaphor, Philosophy of science, Theory of science, Writing | Leave a comment

Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist (exhibition review) #2

Posted on 2 October 2012 by Propagandum

This excellent exhibition (in the Queen’s Gallery, London) has some fascinatingly different stories to tell of Leonardo’s extraordinary anatomical sketches. We can have our interpretations on the surface or we can dig for them, depending on whether we like our versions … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Business, Media analysis, Medicine, Publishing | Tagged Anatomy, Apps, Information design, iPad, Leonardo da Vinci, Publishing, Queen's Gallery, Royal Collection, Theory of medicine | 2 Comments

Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist (exhibition review) #1

Posted on 17 September 2012 by Propagandum

This is an unusual start to any review, but the gallery’s beautifully panelled and French-polished rosewood doors and postmodern urinal dividers in the spotless toilets were so unusual in their generosity to the possibility of civilized public behaviour that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Media analysis, Medicine, Publishing | Tagged Art, Communication, Creativity, Diamond Jubilee, Information design, Leonardo da Vinci, Philosophy of science, Theory of medicine, Vesalius | Leave a comment

The pleasures of fine lettercutting in stone

Posted on 11 September 2012 by Propagandum

Here’s a lovely thing I was very lucky to be given a few weeks ago. I hope anyone with an interest in words, writing and lettering will enjoy it here too. What is it? It’s a Clipsham limestone square pillar with … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Media analysis, Typography, Words | Tagged Clipsham, Craftsman, David Jones, Letterform, Lettering, Richard Sennett, Samuel Beckett, Stonecutting, Typography, Words | 2 Comments

Tales from synaesthetic oceans: shampoo, Rimbaud and the cult of the LP sleeve

Posted on 19 August 2012 by Propagandum

What do you think about this? [Product name] has fresh notes of bergamot and lime, a spicy sensual heart of poivre, beechwood and oakmoss, enhanced with base notes of sandalwood, amber and vetiver. It’s on a bottle of shampoo. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Business, Media analysis | Tagged Aldous Huxley, Cannabis, Captain Beefheart, Hot Rats, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Peter Blake, Pink Floyd, Rimbaud, Rock music, Sgt. Pepper, Synaesthesia, Synesthesia, The Doors, Voodoo Chile, Windows | 5 Comments

After the (Olympics) gold rush – some thoughts on media and emotionality

Posted on 13 August 2012 by Propagandum

If Usain Bolt had improved his 100 metres time from 2008 in step with the upgrades in 2012 Olympics media coverage, he would have run it in [fill in your own very small number here] seconds. My serious point is that … Continue reading →

Posted in Media analysis | Tagged 2012 Summer Olympics, Andy Murray, emotion, London 2012, Olympic Games, Princess Diana, Tom Daley, Tony Blair, Usain Bolt, Zac Purchase | Leave a comment

What is synaesthesia? Why is it important?

Posted on 6 August 2012 by Propagandum

Crikey – the online Random House dictionary says synaesthesia (synesthesia in more search-friendly US English) ‘is a sensation produced in one modality when a stimulus is applied to another modality, as when the hearing of a certain sound induces the visualization … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Media analysis, Publishing, Writing | Tagged Communication, Daniel Tammet, Freud, Memory, Multimodality, Ramachandran, Synaesthesia, Synesthesia | 3 Comments

Inventing the future – the earliest mention of the word ‘wordpress’?

Posted on 31 July 2012 by Propagandum

Two ifs: if there was a search engine that filtered on the earliest mention of, and if we then looked up ‘WordPress’, we would find this, by James Joyce, from 1939: A bone, a pebble, a ramskin; chip them, chap … Continue reading →

Posted in Words, Writing | Tagged Blake, Creativity, Finnegans Wake, James Joyce, Large Hadron Collider, Marshall McLuhan, Murray Gell-Mann, WordPress, Words, Writing | 8 Comments

Bicycles, beds, chairs, doors – the use of modern art

Posted on 21 June 2012 by Propagandum

‘Mr. Beckett’s patient concern with bicycles, amputees, battered hats, and the letter M’ starts Hugh Kenner’s still impressive Samuel Beckett: A Critical Study (New York: Grove Press, 1961, p. 1). My previous post tried to talk about the same things, respectively a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art criticism, Media analysis | Tagged Bibliochaise, Bicycles, Chair, Conceptual art, Duchamp, Hugh Kenner, Joseph Kosuth, Media studies, Modern art, Readymades, Samuel Beckett, Tracey Emin | 6 Comments