This volume takes the reader on a visual tour of far-flung and fleeting, beautiful and bizarre manmade events, revealing that contemporary life is increasingly influenced by the idea of spectacle. Features here are a wide range of international spectacles, from the Olympic Games to the Running of the Bulls in Spain, the Holi Festival in India, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. Also included are twenty interviews with influential cultural figures such as art critic Dave Hickey, film director John Waters, prizefighter Muhammad Ali, theater director Julie Taymor, Las Vegas developer Steve Wynn, architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, and an essay by New York Times critic Herbert Muschamp. A tribute to the art of celebration, Spectacle documents those public performances and happenings that galvanize crowds of people and, if only for a brief moment, forge a bond among strangers.

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published October 15, 2006 by Phaidon Press