A Virtual Tour of Law’s Picture Books

Over at Concurring Opinions, Mike Widener and I are conducting a virtual tour of our “Law’s Picture Books” exhibit at the Grolier Club. We introduce the tour here.

I hope you can join us!

Law’s Picture Books—on Video (with open captions for the deaf)

On the occasion of the public opening of “Law’s Picture Books” at the Grolier Club in New York, I’m posting all five of the exhibition videos, created under the imprint of Hidden Cabinet Films. In the exhibition hall, the video appear on a big-screen monitor through a nifty digital interface, but you can watch them at home, too. And if you can’t stroll up to the corner of 60th and Park to see the exhibit, you can order its accompanying 200-plus-page, full-color catalogue.

“Explore the mystery of law and sight.” With a soundtrack by Moby! This video explores some big questions that the exhibit poses about law and visual culture. ~ 5 minutes.

 

“How does the purpose of a legal illustration shape its relation with its accompanying text?” This video considers one of the exhibit’s underlying analytic themes. ~ 3 minutes.

 

Law’s Picture Books

I’m delighted to announce that the catalogue for “Law’s Picture Books” is now available directly through The Lawbook Exchange or through other online booksellers. The 220-page volume is based on an exhibition that I’ve co-curated with rare book librarian Mike Widener for the Grolier Club in New York. The exhibit opens to the public on September 13. If you can’t come and see the exhibit in person, the book includes images of every book on display, as well as their accompanying captions—plus more.

From the publisher:

“Illustrated law books” may seem like an oxymoron. After all, law is conceptual, analytic, and so very wordy! Yet for the past decade, over a thousand illustrated law books have been assembled in the Yale Law Library — spanning eight centuries and four continents. Law’s Picture Books began as a major exhibition of that collection at the Grolier Club in New York City, curated by Rare Book Librarian Michael Widener and legal historian Mark S. Weiner. In challenging the stereotype of legal literature as a dreary expanse of dry text, this book will surprise and delight both bibliophiles and members of the legal community. This handsome full-color book is enhanced by the essays “Collecting Yale Law Library’s Picture Books,” (Michael Widener), “Reflections on an Exhibition,” (Mark S. Weiner), “Ars Memoria in Early Law: Looking Beneath the Picture,” (Jolande E. Goldberg, Law Library of Congress), and “Law’s Picture Books and the History of Book Illustration,” (Erin C. Blake, Folger Shakespeare Library).

Narrative, Deconstruction, and Counter-terrorism

My colleagues at the strategy, national security, and military affairs journal The Bridge published my review today of some recent works by Ajit Maan, who brings a background in post-structuralist literary theory to her work in counter-terrorism. The post includes an extended close analysis of a recent ISIS video to highlight the care Daesh takes in producing and editing its propaganda (warning: the video is very graphic). Maan’s work points the way toward how high-level literary theory can help guide the use of “soft power” on behalf of democratic, post-colonial, and multi-cultural ideals—a fascinating and important blend of the philosophical and the practical.

 

Woof! Moo! Grr!

Because what the world needs now is more talking animals—and a good laugh—I’ve created an exhibit about images of animals in legal literature for the Rare Book Room at Yale Law Library.

The exhibit includes books from around the world—including Argentina, Russia, the Netherlands, England, and the United States—more than half of them printed before the nineteenth century and the earliest published in 1529. One section of the exhibit focuses entirely on books with images of dogs. Other sections include “Gentle Creatures,” “Predators,” “Swimmers,” and “Beastie.”

From the introductory text:

What’s in My Bag: A Theory Guy Creates a Kit for the GH4

This post isn’t about law, but rather about my work in documentary video—it’s a post for gear heads, especially users of the Panasonic Lumix GH4.

I’m beginning to prepare to shoot a film that will accompany the rare book exhibition Mike Widener and I are putting together for the Grolier Club in New York. I’ve got a lot of nifty things planned for the film, and it looks possible that it will receive outside financial support, so I’m really excited about it. And because I’ve benefited so much from online discussions about gear—posts of the “what’s in my camera bag” type—this seemed like a symbolically appropriately time to share the conclusions to which I’ve come in assembling my own kit. A bit of paying it forward. I hope some people out there will find it helpful to see what a prosumer-level filmmaker has assembled all in one place and how I work with what I have. Narrative storytelling, analysis, and high theory may have come naturally to me; learning about gear has taken a bit longer.

I should say from the start that I don’t have a lot of money to spend. I’ve been able to assemble these items over the past three years by not going out to eat; grinding our own flour, baking our own bread, and making our own yogurt; keeping the heat in our New England home at 58 degrees; teaching a few pinch-hit, four-day intensive courses in constitutional law; and by selling of bunch of my old books from graduate school. Some of the gear also was a gift from family and friends. Because I don’t have a lot of money to throw around, I’ve thought a very great deal before putting down my cash, justifying each purchase carefully. And looking at it all now, I’m gob smacked at how it’s grown into a very respectable box of tools, despite the fact that I don’t have a proper paying job.

Has the sacrifice been worth it? Without question. For me, the chance to explore the great artistic medium of our time has been beyond price. I learn something new and subtle about the world every day I look through the viewfinder or fire up Adobe Premiere Pro.

A word about how and what I film. I’m self-taught, solo, and DIY. I produce, write, film, and edit entirely on my own. I don’t have a crew, even a minimal one, though occasionally my wife holds a circular reflector disc—which is really helpful! Most of the people I interview are scholars and librarians. This means that I need to keep my kit light, so that I can move around quickly and carry it all myself (I typically have less than a minute to set up a shot), and I need to keep it small, so that when I’m pointing the camera it won’t be intimidating to people who are naturally shy.

A final note. A lot of what I’ve purchased has been inspired by the advice of the great site Suggestion of Motion. Of all the forums and blogs I’ve read, it’s been the most helpful for my purposes. Readers may also recognize recommendations that come from other websites, but I’m afraid I’m no longer able to find the original source of my inspiration.

A River Runs Through It

I have a guest post today on Environment, Law, and History discussing my latest video. Thanks to editor David Schorr for giving me the chance to contribute again to his blog. David directs the Berg Institute for Law and History and the Law and Environment Program at the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University.

 

Water, Water, Everywhere, and Every Drop to Drink

I’m pleased to share the latest video from my developing film about law and landscape in Austria. This segment is called “Florian & Friends Talk about Purity”:

The video is about water, water law, Austrian identity, legal philosophy, concepts of the state, ideas of the public, approaches to time and tradition, metaphor, and some great old books. Plus, there’s a cameo appearance by a sweet Alpine cow.

Music and Mountain Rescue

When my wife and I were living in Salzburg last semester, I had the chance to talk with a local archivist with a surprising combination of skills. We had a wide-ranging conversation about music, mountains, law, and what it means to be Austrian. Our discussion will be part of my video-in-progress—”Wood, Water, Stone, Sky, Milk”—but for now I’ve created a preview. You can watch it below, or if the video doesn’t appear automatically in your browser or email, just click here.

 

Edward Coke, Meet Humphrey Bogart

My latest video is about rare books, jazz, the passage of time, and old movies … and the law reports of the great jurist Edward Coke:

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For a 1080p version for the most current systems, click here. For multiple formats on my YouTube channel, here (select the settings tab on the lower-right corner of the frame—that’s the wheel icon, the third icon from the right).