Post #3134 by bigbrotiki on Mon, Jul 1, 2002 2:39 AM

Ben- Wow, that's so cool: direct evidence that I am helping to keep the art alive. That is very rewarding, thanks.
I had a project once, before the BoT, making a film about my dad being a swing fan in Nazi Germany, it was called "Swingboys" (and would have predated the Swing revival a couple of years). Then, out of pure synchronicity, Disney came out with "Swingkids" (that term actually never existed), which was lame, and thus my project was buried, too.
To make a long story short, the greatest result of it was that I seriously worked with my dad for a year, researching his youth, going through his diary, listening to his music, and he loved it. When your own kids get into your history you get the reassurance that something of you will survive after all, it's a great acknowledgement.

South Seas art books are hard to find. Your gramp has "The Arts of the South Pacific" by Jean Guiart. Another classic is "Arts of the South Seas", Museum of Modern Art, 1946, I mention it in my book.
Easier to find and great because of visual variety AND background info is "Oceanic Mythology", 1967, by Roslyn Poignant.
Also, "Hawaiian Sculpture" by J. Halley Cox has been reissued. "Maori Wood Sculpture", 1969, by Terrence Barrow is another fine find.
The rarest would be "POLYNESIAN ART", 1967, by Edward Dodd, (volume one of his "The Ring of Fire" Trilogy). Dodd's writing and method are a little strange (his pre-title is" "A Pictorial Peregrination Through the Shapely and Harmonious Often Enigmatic Sometimes Shocking Realms of...POLYNESIAN ART!) I picture him as a Peter Ustinov character.

All of these you will probably have to find through a bookfinder service, but MY book should be readily available through Amazon.com now that it has been reprinted