This book takes an interdisciplinary and diverse critical look at the work of comic artist Ilan Manouach, situating it within the avant-garde movement more broadly. An international team of authors approach the topic from diverse theoretical approaches, from traditional narratology and aesthetic close readings of some of Manouach's books, engaging with comics' own distinctive history, modes of production, circulation and reception, to perspectives from disability studies, post-colonial studies, technological criticism, media ecology, ontography, posthumanist philosophy, and issues of materiality and media specificity. This innovative and timely volume will interest students and scholars of comic studies, media studies, media ecology, literature, cultural studies, and visual studies.

In a country known for its lively azulejos (tiles) and clay crafts, local studio pottery in Portugal has remained practically unknown, yet throughout the last century, a considerable number of potters and visual artists - from Portugal as well as Germany, Hungary, and Mozambique, among other countries - have created an original corpus of work. Based on what is probably the most comprehensive collection of local ceramic art, this publication discusses with greater detail 30 potters' work and is illustrated with over 300 ceramics. It covers the entire 20th century, but gives particular emphasis to the 1950s and 1960s, when there was a boom in interest for the discipline, and when both state and private patrons commissioned significant artworks. This is the first seminal study of such an eclectic production, aiming to become a standard reference for the general public, collectors, and museum curators.

For most baseball teams, the 2020 season was a strange, short, fanless diversion--but not in Los Angeles. After years of frustrating playoff runs, they finally reclaimed the World Series trophy after more than 30 years, led by their star pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, their electric new outfielder, Mookie Betts, and a bevy of impressive young players assembled by their hard-charging, ingenious team President, Andrew Friedman. The collection of talent that took the field in 2020, and again in 2021, was nothing short of a superteam, on a par with the dynastic Yankees of the 1990s. Yet winning at modern baseball is nothing like it was even 20 years ago. In the years since Billy Beane's famous Moneyball teams, baseball has grown to look less like a sport and more like a Wall Street firm that traded its boiler room for a field. Teams relentlessly exploit inefficiencies, new innovations, and tiny advantages--sometimes without regard for the rules of the game. The result is a sport that has never been played at a higher level, yet has seen its TV ratings and attendance numbers in long, slow decline. And with the league's collective bargaining agreement set to expire at the end of 2021, a labor crisis looms. This fascinating book not only examines the remarkable Dodgers team that won it all, but offers a unique view inside a sport that can't seem to break its addiction to winning at all costs--even when those costs might be the future of the game. From Kershaw's late-career breakthrough to Friedman's machinations, it shows what it takes to win, and what it will take to save the sport.

In a country known for its lively azulejos (tiles) and clay crafts, local studio pottery in Portugal has remained practically unknown, yet throughout the last century, a considerable number of potters and visual artists - from Portugal as well as Germany, Hungary, and Mozambique, among other countries - have created an original corpus of work. Based on what is probably the most comprehensive collection of local ceramic art, this publication discusses with greater detail 30 potters' work and is illustrated with over 300 ceramics. It covers the entire 20th century, but gives particular emphasis to the 1950s and 1960s, when there was a boom in interest for the discipline and when both state and private patrons commissioned significant artworks. This is the first seminal study of such an eclectic production, aiming to become a standard reference for the general public, collectors, and museum curators. Text in Portuguese.

As a 50th anniversary gift to the museum, the Society for Asian Art has commissioned a major work by Liu Jianhua, one of China's best-known contemporary installation artists. The work comprises approximately 2,500 pieces of white porcelain formed into letters of the English alphabet and components of Chinese characters, suspended from the ceiling of the second-floor loggia. The artist provides only the building blocks of words, leaving it to viewers to create meaning. The artwork's location is especially apropos: the space offers an opportunity for dialogue with the original engraved literary quotations on the loggia's walls, dating to the building's previous incarnation as San Francisco's Main Library.