Engineering Art and Telling Tales: Anish Kapoor at the Royal Academy

Anish Kapoor has become well known for his enormous architectural installations and for his use of vibrant colour. Much of his work depends critically on good engineering and he has collaborated closely with engineers for many years. I discuss several of Kapoor's large works, approaching them from an engineer's perspective. I also show how Kapoor weaves layers of narrative in some of his work: so that a naïve understanding of a piece's construction is a falsehood layered over the true engineering solution. The story seems initially obvious to the audience but a little digging, a little thought, reveals that it is a fiction and that reality is something other.     

Past Glory of a Buddhist Kingdom

ＰａｓｔＧｌｏｒｙｏｆａＢｕｄｄｈｉｓｔＫｉｎｇｄｏｍＨＵＯＷＥＩＰｅｏｐｌｅｔｈｒｏｕｇｈｏｕｔｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄｋｎｏｗＴｉｂｅｔｉｓｔｈｅＲｏｏｆｏｆｔｈｅＷｏｒｌｄ．ＢｕｔＩｂｅｔｔｈｅｙｈａｖｅｌｉｔｌｅｋｎｏｗｌｅｄｇｅａｂｏｕｔｔｈｅＲｏ...     

For want of a nail? Proxies for analysing POW and guard access to supplies at a Confederate prison camp

ABSTRACT

Camp Lawton is a Confederate camp for Union PoWs in Georgia, USA. Built in 1864, inhabited for six weeks, and abandoned in advance of Sherman’s march to the sea, it is the focus of an ongoing research project. One of the key questions, yet unresolved, concerning Civil War POW camps is the lack of PoW access to essential supplies. Historical debates rage over the intentionality of these depravations, with a recurring argument asserting a universal privation, for guards and PoWS. The archaeology of internment camps can end this debate. Presented here are interpretations from recent fieldwork via an unlikely source: the machine-cut nail, analysed as a proxy in the absence of traditional evidence of subsistence and supply. Present in large numbers in PoW and guard areas, but clearly not architectural, this paper explores a narrative where nails, and the purpose for which they were put to, were not wanting.     

先秦骑兵的诞生及演变

骑兵以其高度的机动性和攻击性在中外战争史上起着非常重要的作用。骑兵出现,大大改变了战争的形态,不仅加速了战争的进程,扩大了战场的范围,而且使以往的战略、战术以及后勤保障都发生了重大变革。从世界范围看,“骑兵在整个中世纪一直是各国军队的主要兵种。