Review It has all of the characteristics of a good hot fudge sundae: steamy,cold, slightly sinful. distinctly American, and almost too much of a good thing. -- Nancy Princethal, BookForum Product Description SPECTACULAR OPTICAL is a book published by TRANS> arts.cultures.media to accompany the exhibition bt the same name held at Thread Waxing Space. The book takes as a point of departure the cultural fascination with violence, atrocity, mutation and the ways that they are depicted (some would say gentrified) as entertainment. The essays examine the ways in which opticality has become so spectacular, how this bedazzlement with entertainment is engineered in the larger sphere of cultural production. From feminism to fetishism, from simulation to stimulation, the book takes as an example David Cronenberg's work which deals with corporeality, aggravated biology, technology, spectacle, media, and violence. From the Publisher TRANS> has been honored to:.win the American Design Award.be selected as one of The Best Magazines of the year by the Library Journal.have been awarded the George Wittenborn Award for the high quality and breadth of its articles.."...TRANS> is a serious critical Journal featuring work by distingued critics... The New York Times."...The writing reflects sound scholarship..." Art Documentation