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  • From Vishnu to Vegas

Ramanathan, Rathna, 2018, Book Section, From Vishnu to Vegas In: Blamey, David and Haylock, Brad, (eds.) Distributed. Occasional Table . Open Editions, London. ISBN 9790949004093

Abstract or Description:

A chapter in a book on the theme of Distributed. It traces the journey of hair from the Tirupati Hindu temple in Andhra Pradesh, India to Las Vegas hair salons where the hair is sold as ‘remy’ wigs to pop stars and young women. It looks at a billion dollar global industry and a process of distribution that starts as a centuries- old Hindu ritual and ends up as trend-setting hair styles on Lady Gaga and Beyonce.

Publishers notes:
For those who would seek to influence others, the distribution of ideas is paramount. Similarly, for those holding ambition to secrete knowledge for reasons of authority, or to protect the fruits of intellectual labour for reasons of profit or ethical concern, dissemination is key. Certainly before, but more importantly since, the Gutenberg Bible, the predicament of the power of knowledge has lain not with its generation but with the control of its dispersion.
This new volume in the Occasional Table series of critical anthologies focuses attention on the act of distribution as a subject for serious creative consideration and one of great social and economic importance. Contributors from a variety of backgrounds paint a big picture that embraces the actions of the individual along-side the workings of global markets. From the attention-seeking impulse of the poseur to the democratisation of art and knowledge through books, digital networks, pop music and self-organised libraries, and to the question of what can be known and by whom, the urge to disseminate is explored here as an elemental phenomenon of our time.

Official URL: http://www.openeditions.com/index.php/distributed....
Subjects: Other > Mass Communications and Documentation > P400 Publishing > P490 Publishing not elsewhere classified
Creative Arts and Design > W200 Design studies
Creative Arts and Design > W200 Design studies > W210 Graphic Design > W213 Visual Communication
School or Centre: School of Communication
Date Deposited: 22 Oct 2018 08:55
Last Modified: 22 Sep 2020 09:27
URI: https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/id/eprint/3673
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