"Almost by definition, an artwork is the voice of the artist," Seth Apter writes, but what does that voice have to say? What secrets will it divulge? In The Pulse of Mixed Media, Apter, a mixed-media artist with a Ph.D. in psychology, goes beyond the immediate questions of how artists create their art or where they find inspiration. By focusing the main part of the book on 31 artists (26 of whom are women), Apter obtains an array of answers to in-depth questions that delve deep into the psyche of each of his subjects. Coupled with beautiful color photographs of their work, the responses provide an insight into the whole life experience of being an artist, not just the artistic side of it.
The answers are clustered around each question--such as "Is there an emotion that shows up more frequently than others in your artwork?" or "What is your most quirky habit?"--allowing readers to mull over each artist's response against the backdrop of the group and providing a reflection of the wider artistic community. The last section of the book expands the field to more than 100 different artists, offering readers a wider database of answers to such questions as "What expresses the innermost you?" and "What is your biggest fear?" Simulating photographs throughout The Pulse of Mixed Media create an virtual gallery tour for the armchair traveler, while Apter's psychology-based questioning leads to a comprehension of the artistic process rarely shared before now. --Lee E. Cart, freelance writer and book reviewer