Fresco (plural either ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word ''affresco'' which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance. Declining in popularity, they enjoyed something of a revival in the 20th century.

Types

''Buon fresco'' technique consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh (hence the name) lime mortar or plaster, for which the Italian word for plaster, intonaco, is used. Because of the chemical makeup of the plaster, a binder is not required, as the pigment mixed solely with the water will sink into the intonaco, which itself becomes the medium holding the pigment. The pigment is absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the plaster dries and reacts with the air: it is this chemical reaction which fixes the pigment particles in the plaster. One of the first painters in the post-classical period to use this technique was the Isaac Master in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. A person who creates fresco is called a frescoist.

''A secco'' painting, in contrast, is done on dry plaster (''secco'' is "dry" in Italian). The pigments thus require a binding medium, such as egg (tempera), glue or oil to attach the pigment to the wall. It is important to distinguish between ''a secco'' work done on top of ''buon fresco'', which according to most authorities was in fact standard from the Middle Ages onwards, and work done entirely ''a secco'' on a blank wall. Generally, ''buon fresco'' works are more durable than any ''a secco'' work added on top of them, because ''a secco'' work lasts better with a roughened plaster surface, whilst true fresco should have a smooth one. The additional ''a secco'' work would be done to make changes, and sometimes to add small details, but also because not all colours can be achieved in true fresco, because only some pigments work chemically in the very alkaline environment of fresh lime-based plaster. Blue was a particular problem, and skies and blue robes were often added ''a secco'', as neither azurite blue, nor lapis lazuli, the only two blue pigments then available, work well in wet fresco.

It has also become increasingly clear, thanks to modern analytical techniques, that even in the early Italian Renaissance painters quite frequently employed ''a secco'' techniques so as to allow the use of a broader range of pigments. In most early examples this work has now entirely vanished, but a whole fresco done ''a secco'' on a surface roughened to give a key for the paint may survive very well, although damp is more threatening to it than to ''buon fresco''.

A third type called a ''mezzo-fresco'' is painted on nearly dry intonaco—firm enough not to take a thumb-print, says the sixteenth-century author Ignazio Pozzo—so that the pigment only penetrates slightly into the plaster. By the end of the sixteenth century this had largely displaced ''buon fresco'', and was used by painters such as Gianbattista Tiepolo or Michelangelo. This technique had, in reduced form, the advantages of ''a secco'' work.

The three key advantages of work done entirely ''a secco'' were that it was quicker, mistakes could be corrected, and the colours varied less from when applied to when fully dry—in wet fresco there was a considerable change.

In painting ''buon fresco'', a rough underlayer called the ''arriccio'' is added to the whole area to be painted, and allowed it to dry for some days. Many artists sketched their compositions on this underlayer, which would never be seen, in a red pigment called sinopia; these drawings are also called sinopia. Later, techniques for transferring paper drawings to the wall were developed. The main lines of the drawing were pricked over with a point, held against the wall, and a bag of soot (''spolvero'') banged on them on produce black dots along the lines. If a previous fresco was being painted over, the surface would be roughened to give a key. On the day of painting, a thinner, smooth layer of fine plaster, the intonaco, is added to the amount of wall that can be expected to be completed in a day, sometimes matching the contours of the figures or the landscape, but more often just starting from the top of the composition. This area is called the ''giornata'' ("day's work"), and the different day stages can usually be seen in a large fresco, by a sort of seam that separates one from the next.

''Buon frescoes'' are difficult to create because of the deadline associated with the drying plaster. Generally, a layer of plaster will require ten to twelve hours to dry; ideally, an artist would begin to paint after one hour and continue until two hours before the drying time—giving seven to nine hours working time. Once a ''giornata'' is dried, no more ''buon fresco'' can be done, and the unpainted intonaco must be removed with a tool before starting again the next day. If mistakes have been made, it may also be necessary to remove the whole intonaco for that area—or to change them later ''à secco''.

A technique as seen in the popular frescoes of Michelangelo and Raphael is to actually scrape into certain areas of the plaster while still wet to increase the illusion of depth and to accent certain areas over others. The eyes of the people of the School of athens are sunken-in using this technique which causes the eyes to seem deeper and more pensive. Michelangelo used this technique as part of his trademark 'outlining' of his central figures within his frescoes.

In a wall-sized fresco, there may be ten to twenty or even more ''giornate,'' or separate areas of plaster. After centuries, these giornate (originally, nearly invisible) have sometimes become visible, and in many large-scale frescoes, these divisions may be seen from the ground. Additionally, the border between ''giornate'' was often covered by ''à secco'' painting, which has since fallen off.

For wholly ''à secco'' work, the intonaco is laid with a rougher finish, allowed to dry completely and then usually given a key by rubbing with sand. The painter then proceeds much as he would on a canvas or wood panel.

History

Crete and Egypt

The earliest known examples frescoes done in the Buon Fresco method date at around 1500 BC and are to be found on the island of Crete in Greece. The most famous of these, The povist, depicts a sacred ceremony in which individuals jump over the backs of large bulls. While some similar frescoes have been found in other locations around the Mediterranean basin, particularly in Egypt and Morocco, their origins are subject to speculation.

Some art historians believe that fresco artists from Crete may have been sent to various locations as part of a trade exchange, a possibility which raises to the fore the importance of this art form within the society of the times. The most common form of ''fresco'' was Egyptian wall paintings in tombs, usually using the ''à secco'' technique.

Classical antiquity

Frescoes were also painted in ancient Greece, but few of these works have survived. In southern Italy, at Paestum, which was a Greek colony of the Magna Graecia, a tomb containing frescoes dating back to 470 BC, the so called Tomb of the Diver was discovered on June 1968. These frescoes depict scenes of the life and society of ancient Greece, and constitute valuable historical testimonials. One shows a group of men reclining at a symposium while another shows a young man diving into the sea.

Roman wall paintings, such as those at the magnificent Villa dei Misteri (1st century B.C.) in the ruins of Pompeii, and others at Herculaneum, were completed in ''buon fresco.''

Late Roman Empire (Christian) 1st-2nd century frescoes were found in catacombs beneath Rome and Byzantine Icons were also found in Cyprus, Crete, Ephesus, Cappadocia and Antioch. Roman frescoes were done by the artist painting the artwork on the still damp plaster of the wall, so that the painting is part of the wall, actually colored plaster.

Also a historical collection of Ancient Christian frescoes can be found in the Churches of Goreme Turkey.

Indian fresco

Thanks to large number of ancient rock-cut cave temples there have been preserved valuable ancient and early medieval frescoes in more than 20 locations of India.

The frescoes on the ceilings and walls of the Ajanta Caves were painted between c. 200 BC and 600 and are the oldest known frescoes in India. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research on the subject since the time of the site's rediscovery in 1819. Other locations with valuable preserved ancient and early medieval frescoes include Bagh Caves, Ellora Caves, Sittanavasal, Armamalai Cave, Badami Cave Temples and other locations. Frescoes have been made in several techniques including tempera technique.

The later Chola paintings were discovered in 1931 within the circumambulatory passage of the Brihadisvara Temple in India and are the first Chola specimens discovered.

Researchers have discovered the technique used in these frescos. A smooth batter of limestone mixture is applied over the stones, which took two to three days to set. Within that short span, such large paintings were painted with natural organic pigments.

During the Nayak period the chola paintings were painted over. The Chola frescos lying underneath have an ardent spirit of saivism is expressed in them. They probably synchronised with the completion of the temple by Rajaraja Cholan the Great.

The frescoes in Dogra/ Pahari style paintings exist in their unique form at Sheesh Mahal of Ramnagar (105 km from Jammu and 35 km west of Udhampur). Scenes from epics of Mahabharat and Ramayan along with portraits of local lords form the subject matter of these wall paintings. Rang Mahal of Chamba (Himachal Pradesh) is another site of historic Dogri fresco with wall paintings depicting scenes of ''Draupti Cheer Haran'', and ''Radha- Krishna Leela'' . This can be seen preserved at National Museum at New Delhi in a chamber called ''Chamba Rang Mahal''.

Frescoes also can be found in Sigiriya, situated in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka), which are reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves of India. The frescoes were created in the 5-6th centuries. They are considered a masterpiece of ancient frescoes.

Middle ages

The late Medieval period and the Renaissance saw the most prominent use of fresco, particularly in Italy, where most churches and many government buildings still feature fresco decoration. In Denmark too, church wall paintings or ''kalkmalerier'' were widely used in the Middle Ages (first Romanesque then Gothic) and can be seen in some 600 Danish churches as well as in churches in the south of Sweden which was Danish at the time.

One of the rare examples of Islamic fresco painting can be seen in Qasr Amra, the desert palace of the Umayyads in the 8th century. Magotez.

Early modern Europe

Northern Romania boasts about a dozen painted monasteries, completely covered with frescos inside and out, that date from the second quarter of the sixteenth century. The most remarkable are the monastic foundations at Humor (hoo mor), Moldoviţa (mol do vee' tsa), Arbore (are' bo ray) and Voroneţ (vo ro nets). Suceviţa (sue che vee' tsa), dating from 1600, represents a late return to the style developed some seventy years earlier. The tradition of painted churches continued into the nineteenth century in other parts of Romania, although never to the same extent.

Andrea Palladio, the famous Italian architect of the 16th century, built many mansions with plain exteriors and stunning interiors filled with frescoes.

The Foujita chapel in Reims completed in 1966, is an example of modern frescos, the interior being painted with religious scenes by the School of Paris painter Tsuguharu Foujita. In 1996, it was designated an historic monument by the French Government.

Mexican Muralism

Jose Clemente Orozco, Fernando Leal, David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera the famous Mexican artists renewed the art of fresco painting in the 20th century. Orozco, Siqueiros, Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo contributed more to the history of Mexican fine arts and to the reputation of Mexican art in general than anybody else. Together with works by Orozco, Siqueiros, and others, Fernando Leal and Rivera's large wall works in fresco established the art movement known as ''Mexican Muralism''. Among contemporary artists, Fernando Leal Audirac has developed a technique of transportable frescos.

Selected examples of frescoes

Italian Early Medieval

Castelseprio

Italian Late Medieval-Quattrocento

Panels (including Giotto(?), Lorenzetti, Martini and others) in upper and lower Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

Giotto, Cappella degli Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

''Camposanto'', Pisa

Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

Piero della Francesca, Chiesa di San Francesco, Arezzo

Ghirlandaio, ''Cappella Tornabuoni'', Santa Maria Novella, Florence

''The Last Supper'', Leonardo Da Vinci, Milan (technically a tempera on plaster and stone, not a true fresco)

Sistine Chapel Wall series: Botticelli, Perugino, Rossellini, Signorelli, and Ghirlandaio

Luca Signorelli, Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto

Italian "High Renaissance"

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling

Raphael's Vatican Stanza

Raphael's Villa Farnesina

Giulio Romano's Palazzo del Tè, Mantua

Mantegna, Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua

The dome of the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore of Florence

Italian Baroque

The Loves of the Gods, Annibale Carracci, Palazzo Farnese

Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power, Pietro da Cortona, Palazzo Barberini

Ceilings, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, (New Residenz) Wurzburg, (Royal Palace) Madrid, (Villa Pisani) Stra, and others; Wall scenes (Villa Valmarana and Palazzo Labia)

Nave ceiling, Andrea Pozzo, Sant'Ignazio, Rome

Czech Republic

The Ducal Rotunda of the Virgin Mary and St Catherine in Znojmo, Czech Republic

Mexico

Fresco Cycle of The Miracles of the Virgin of Guadalupe by Fernando Leal, at Basilica of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico

Fresco Cycle of Bolivar's Epic by Fernando Leal, at Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, Mexico

Serbian Medieval

Visoki Dečani

Conservation of frescoes

In Venice

The climate and environment of Venice has proved to be a problem for frescoes and other works of art in the city for centuries. The city is built on a lagoon in northern Italy. The humidity and the rise of water over the centuries have created a phenomenon known as rising damp. As the lagoon water rises and seeps into the foundation of a building, the water is absorbed and rises up through the walls often causing damage to frescoes. Venetians have become quite adept in the conservation methods of frescoes.

The following is the process that was used when rescuing frescos in La Fenice, a Venetian opera house, but it is the same process for similarly damaged frescoes. First, a protection and support bandage of cotton gauze and polyvinyl alcohol is applied. Difficult sections are removed with soft brushes and localized vacuuming. The other areas that are easier to remove (because they had been damaged by less water) are removed with a paper pulp compress saturated with bicarbonate of ammonia solutions and removed with deionized water. These sections are strengthened and reattached then cleansed with base exchange resin compresses and the wall and pictorial layer were strengthened with barium hydrate. The cracks and detachments are stopped with lime putty and injected with an epoxy resin loaded with micronized silica.

See also

Gambier Parry process

Mural

Sigiriya Frescoes

Arbore

Haveli

References

External links

Museum of Ancient Inventions: Roman-Style Fresco, Italy, 50 AD

Sigiriya Frescoes, The Mary B. Wheeler Collection, University of Pennsylvania Library

Fresco technique described

Fresco Techniques

Painting a Fresco, Lessons and Examples: Buon and Secco Fresco by Donald A. Jusko

Fresco School

High Fresco - The Art of Ben Long

The Art of Fresco Recaptured by Steve Bogdanoff

Web gallery of Art

The Fresco Portrait of Pope John Paul II by Fernando Leal Audirac

Fresco Category:Painting materials Category:Plastering

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name	Jacque Fresco
birth date	March 13, 1916
birth place	Brooklyn, New York
residence	Florida
occupation	Futurist, Social Engineer, Structural Engineer, Industrial Designer, Author, Lecturer
nationality	American
known for	The Venus Project, Resource-Based Economy, Sociocyberneering
notable works	''Looking Forward'' (1969), ''The Best That Money Can't Buy'' (2002)
influences	B. F. Skinner, Jacques Loeb, Alfred Korzybski, Buckminster Fuller, Thorstein Veblen, Stuart Chase, Edward Bellamy, H. G. Welles, Howard Scott, Norbert Wiener, Arthur Radebaugh }}

Jacque Fresco (born March 13, 1916), is a self-educated structural designer, philosopher of science, concept artist, educator, and futurist. His interests span a wide range of disciplines including several in philosophy, science, and engineering. Fresco writes and lectures extensively on his view of subjects ranging from the holistic design of sustainable cities, energy efficiency, natural resource management, cybernated technology, advanced automation, and the role of science in society, focusing on the benefits he claims this will bring. With his colleague, Roxanne Meadows, he is the founder and director of an organization known as The Venus Project, located in Venus, Florida.

In contemporary culture he has been popularized by three documentaries, ''Future By Design'', ''Zeitgeist Addendum'', and ''Zeitgeist: Moving Forward'', His Venus Project has been inspirational worldwide, especially to activists.

Early life

Youth

Born on March 13, 1916, Jacque Fresco grew up in the minority neighborhood of Bensonhurst in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Precocious as a child, Fresco's interests did not pertain to the topics presented to him at school. Unwilling, or unable, to conform with the setting of formal education, he sought a self-directed education throughout his later teen years. Fresco spent many days of his youth at the local library. For a short time, Fresco took an interest in attending the Young Communist League wherein he caused commotion. After brief discussion and disagreements with the League president, Fresco was physically removed. Thereafter, Fresco turned his attention to Technocracy. Fresco had long taken an interest in designing flying saucers and tried to interest the aircraft industry at a time when experimental construction was underway. Eventually, Fresco demonstrated such designs in the 1930s. After departing from Douglas due to safety design disagreements, he traveled to Hawaii in late 1939 where he then traveled to the South Sea Islands where he interacted with native islanders. Fresco claims that his visit to these islands effectively helped shape his understanding of cultural relativism and the flexibility of human values in alternate environments. In California, Fresco took various residence in Hermosa Beach and Los Angeles. where he would produce up to forty designs a day. Among Fresco's many designs, a design of a radical variable camber wing attempted to optimize wing thickness for lift and flight. It received a patent and was thereafter given to the Army Air Force. He was eventually discharged.

In the mid-1940s, Fresco began working with Earl Muntz and Michael Shore who employed Fresco to design a new low cost form of modernistic housing. Its design of light weight, high strength, and long lasting materials allowed for reduced production costs and streamlined production which increased its economic viability. The structure was first exhibited in 1947 at Stage 8 of the Warner Brothers Sunset boulevard. It would go on to attract over 20,000 visitors. The proceeds were donated to The Cancer Prevention Society to build part of a new hospital. For the next few years the Trend Home was to undergo mass production and was considered by the U.S. government as a possible solution for soldiers returning from World War II. near Hollywood, where he also lived, lectured, and taught technical design, meanwhile researching and working on inventions as a freelance inventor and scientific consultant. Fresco claims that many of his inventions were patented by his employers. During these years, Fresco had difficulty managing finances and would face auctioneers as they entered his lab to compensate for his lack of payments.

Also during Fresco's years in Los Angeles, he worked as model designer for science-fiction movies Fresco was noted for his high quality models and special effects despite the low budgets of the B-movie productions. His talents were recommended to Roger Corman for the film ''The Beast with a Million Eyes'', but Corman could not accommodate Fresco into the budget (of $23,000). Fresco also worked as technical adviser in the film industry, most notably for the 1956 Oscar nominated documentary ''The Naked Eye''. Eventually, in the mid-1950s, Fresco left California after his lab was commandeered to build the Golden State Freeway.

Midlife

Pursuing his affinity for the tropics, in 1955 Fresco moved to Miami, Florida, where he lived on a boat for a short time. He began practicing private therapy sessions, and at a time when the American Psychological Association was pressuring therapists lacking approved credentials to relinquish their practice, Fresco received criticism for his therapy service. In Miami, Fresco held public lectures throughout the late 1950s and 1960s. On the lecture circuit, Fresco sometimes utilized the title of "Dr." based on a doctorate of philosophy that he obtained from Sierra State University in California. It was not recognized as an accredited university by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. As a result, Fresco's degree came under scrutiny when he was practicing his therapy service. Fresco would eventually hold the doctorates degree only as an honorary title. Eventually, he disregarded the title entirely. Later, he acknowledged his lack of formal credentials as being a detriment in academic circles and has made it difficult for him to gain influence.

From the mid-1950s and throughout the 1960s, Fresco developed what he called "Project Americana." It was a ten year plan for American social change. His vision included a circular city and the application of full cyber-automation of city operations wherein machines direct other machines to operate. Such was Fresco's conception of a "thinking city" in "The Machine-Machine Age." The national plan also included methods for aiding struggling nations by erecting prefabricated factories that produce prefabricated products for building, and a new curriculum for schooling. In 1962, CBS approached Fresco about developing a series on his ideas after appearing on two successive episodes of ''On the Town'' with Fred Fischer.

Fresco spent much of his time in Miami trying to showcase his designs of a circular city and raise funds to get it built. He also designed a three-wheeled car that was to have only 32 moving parts, which he strove to fund as well. Fresco made much of his living working as an industrial designer for various companies such as Alcoa and the Major Realty Corporation and from draftsman inventions through Jacque Fresco Enterprises Inc.

In 1969, with Ken Keyes, a book was written about Fresco's ideas, entitled ''Looking Forward''. The first half of the book was dedicated to detailing some of the causes of many problems in humanity's thinking and behavior, the changes that humanity will have to make as it enters the future, and a description of three components which can be used to best correctly analyze the future: humanity's values, methods of thinking, and tools i.e. technological developments. All three are described as being interdependent much like a set of gears. The second half of the book was dedicated to a speculative look at the future revolving around the experiences of the fictional characters, Scott, and, Hella. It was one of the earliest publications to theorize the possible social implications of a central network knowledge bank (Corcen) used to bring about a "humanized man-machine symbiosis". Fresco and Keyes gave consideration for a wide range of technological and social possibilities resulting from the technologically governed societal design.

Sociocyberneering

Fresco's ideas for Project Americana continued to evolve and became what was known as Sociocyberneering Inc, a non-profit organization founded in 1971 for which Fresco was president. It was a non-political and non-sectarian membership organization having, at its peak, 250 members, many of whom became Fresco's pupils. Fresco frequently hosted educational lectures in Miami Beach and at his home in Coral Gables. His lecture topics pertained to society, social change, science, technology, engineering, architecture, religion, prudence, semantics, anthropology, psychology, systems theory, and education, among other topics. Aside from educating, Fresco worked with members of the organization to produce designs, films, and literature pertaining to the aims and goals of the organization.

The term "sociocyberneering" was defined as "the application of the most sophisticated forms of computer technology in the management of human affairs." The stated goal of Sociocyberneering was to apply "the most sophisticated forms of science and technology toward problem solving ... an approach at the restructuring of society in humanistic terms," and dedicated to finding practical solutions that could be rapidly applied to the many problems that faced society. The primary focus was to "investigate alternative solutions based in conservation of energy, international cooperation in all areas of social endeavor, and the assimilation of a systems approach for the design of cities." There was also heavy emphasis on the prospects of cybernated technology in the societies of human beings, arguing that, "the future of man and his cities does not depend on whether or not this or that design is preferred. It is determined by the forces of social and environmental evolution in which computerized approaches to human and environmental systems will ultimately emerge as the ultimate technique in all areas of the social sequences."

By this time Fresco had designed his circular city to be one mile in diameter with radially connected concentric rings "resembling the spokes of a wheel." Each ring was dedicated to a general function such as agriculture, recreation, housing, among others. At the nucleus center, in the dome, was a supercomputer that was intended to function as the centralized data management system for the automated processes throughout the city.

Throughout the 1970s Fresco worked to expand the organization and elevate its exposure to the general public by lecturing at universities and appearing on radio and television. Fresco became acquainted with Larry King when King's career was emerging out of Miami. King featured Fresco on his television show and radio show several times to discuss, with academics and local callers, the proposals of Sociocyberneering.

At the apex of the organization's membership, they began investing in 40 acres of land in Naples. The organization set out to construct an experimental community in which they would live and expand. They encountered a setback in 1978 when members feared that the Collier County zoning board would complicate implementation. The result was a partial dissolution of Sociocyberneering membership. The investment was abandoned and the land was resold. Fresco sold his home and new land was located in rural Venus. Upon an old tomato patch he established a research center for Sociocyberneering in 1980. With the help of remaining members, Fresco constructed buildings based on the designs of his futuristic renderings. After the move, Sociocyberneering became less popular as many members remained in Miami. Eventually, Sociocyberneering became much less active and through the 1980s Fresco dedicated his time to designing and studying alongside Roxanne Meadows who remained with Fresco as his colleague.

Later life

In 1994, Fresco rebooted Sociocyberneering Inc. under the new title The Venus Project. By this time, Fresco had accumulated a large quantity of designs and models that could represent a general outline of how his vision may look and operate, and were used to gain exposure for the organization through educational films and literature distributed to teachers and universities. Aside from their educational materials, Fresco and Meadows continued to support the project throughout the '90s through freelance structural designing, such as for Pratt and Whitney, industrial engineering, and conventional architectural modeling. In the process, some of Fresco's futuristic designs succeeded in inspiring some development companies. At one point, Fresco claimed that The Venus Project was under consideration for developing plans to build a theme park/experimental city in Turkey. A similar consideration occurred with Dubai. In 2002, Fresco published his main work ''The Best That Money Can't Buy''. In 2006, William Gazecki directed the semi-biographical film about Fresco, "Future by Design" in which Fresco was compared to the Renaissance polymath Leonardo Da Vinci. In 2008, Peter Joseph featured Fresco in the film ''Zeitgeist Addendum'' wherein his vision of the future was presented as a possible solution for the societal and environmental crisis expounded in the film. The reaction that followed was manifested by the development of The Zeitgeist Movement which actively professes Fresco's ideas and considers itself the "activist arm" of The Venus Project.

In 2010, Fresco attempted to trademark the phrase "Resource-Based Economy" in the midst of its popularization to preserve his definition of it. The phrase was reviewed and found to be too generic to qualify. The action to trademark Fresco's specific meaning was therefore blocked. Other small Internet organizations now profess a version of a resource-based economy based on Fresco's original conception.

Throughout 2010, Fresco traveled with Meadows on a world wide tour in response to the growing popularity of The Venus Project. On January 15, 2011, ''Zeitgeist: Moving Forward'' was released in theaters, again featuring Fresco and a more elaborate articulation of his vision as a possible solution for planetary dilemmas. and has initiated the funding of a major motion picture that may be made which will depict The Venus Project future.

The Venus Project

The Venus Project is an organization depicting, as well as professing, the culmination of Fresco's life work and serves as a foundation that represents his vision of a future without poverty, crime, war, corruption, or waste. It was founded in 1980 and took its name in 1994. It is located in central Florida near west Lake Okeechobee about fifty miles northeast of Fort Myers. On its 21.5-acre lot, there are ten buildings designed by Fresco, which showcase limited versions of Fresco's architectural designs. It is partly a research center for Fresco and Roxanne Meadows, and partly an educational center for supporters of the project. They produce videos and literature depicting and explaining the future vision and the goals to actualize it. Among these goals, the salient are to produce a major motion picture portraying the future world the project promotes; constructing a theme park with the intention of exhibiting technologies and the ideas of the Venus Project; and constructing an experimental city in an attempt to test Fresco's hypotheses. Its ultimate aim is to improve society by moving towards a global, sustainable, technological social design that is termed a "resource-based economy".

Personal life and family

Fresco was born to immigrants from Turkey, Isaac and Lena Fresco. His father was born in 1880 and around 1905 immigrated from Istanbul to New York where he worked as a horticulturalist. He died in 1963. Fresco's mother was born in 1887 in Jerusalem and also migrated to New York around 1904. She died in 1988. Fresco was brother to two siblings, a sister, Freda, and a brother, David. His brother was born in 1909. He was a draftsman, a private during World War II, and became a theater actor and a character actor in Hollywood. he resurrected his career in the 1960s eventually appearing in many films and television shows. He died in 1997.

Fresco had one marriage when he lived in Los Angeles, California and through his first couple years in Miami. He divorced in 1957. His wife, Patricia, gave birth to a son, Richard, in 1953 and a daughter, Bambi, in 1956. Richard was an army private and died in 1976. Bambi died of cancer in 2010.

Vision

Fresco's vision has formed as the culmination of many disciplines and schools of thought. The dominant features of it have been compared to earlier thinkers from as early as the nineteenth century. Titles such as ''The Paradise within the Reach of all Men without Labor by Powers of Nature and Machinery'', ''Emigration to the Tropical World for the Melioration of All Classes of People of All Nations'', and ''The New World or Mechanical System'' were written in the 1800s by John Adolphus Etzler who has been described as an early forerunner to Fresco's vision. Likewise, Ebenezer Howard and his book ''Garden Cities of Tomorrow'', as well as the Garden City Movement during the early 1900s has been described as another predecessor. Fresco's vision removes the mechanics of modern economics and his view toward modern economics has been compared to Thorstein Veblen's concept of "the predatory phase in human development." Other facets of Fresco's vision have been labeled a "tabula rasa approach."

Fresco himself cites several theorists and authors for contributing to his vision, such as Jacques Loeb, who established the ''Mechanistic Conception of Life''; Edward Bellamy, who wrote the extremely influential book, ''Looking Backward''; Thorstein Veblen, who influenced the Technocracy movement and Howard Scott, who popularized it; Alfred Korzybski, who originated General Semantics; H. G. Wells, and many others. Fresco has often been heard stating, "I have been able to achieve what I have achieved because I stood on the shoulders of giants," paraphrasing Einstein, (though the metaphore was first made famous by Isaac Newton, and stated by others before him).

Resource-based economy

Primary in Fresco's vision is the concept of a "resource-based economy." It incorporates sustainable cities and values, along with the goals of energy efficiency, natural resource management, and advanced automation, focusing on the benefits that it might bring to humanity as a whole.

According to Fresco, poverty, crime, corruption and war are the result of scarcity created by the present world's profit-based economic system. He theorizes that the profit motive also stifles the progress of socially beneficial technology, and instead he favors a system that fosters the purpose motive. Fresco claims that the progression of technology, if it were carried on independently of its profitability, would make more resources available to more people by producing an abundance of products and materials. This new-found abundance of resources would, according to Fresco, reduce the human tendency toward individualism, corruption, and greed, and instead rely on people helping each other.

A resource-based economy replaces the need for the current monetary economy, which is "scarcity-oriented" or "scarcity-based". Fresco argues that the world is rich in natural resources and energy and that — with modern technology and judicious efficiency — the needs of the global population can be met with abundance, while at the same time removing the current limitations of what is deemed possible due to notions of economic viability.

Reception

Critics and advocates of Fresco's vision are sharply divided. Throughout his life Fresco has been labeled a "dreamer," an "eccentric," an "utopian," an "idealist," a "crackpot," a "charlatan," etc., halfheartedly by some magazine and newspaper writers among others. Some feel that his vision is impractical, idealistic, and/or borderline science fiction. The books ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' or ''Brave New World'' are sometimes referenced in relation to The Venus Project. These attitudes continue today across some Web sites. Even further, some claims have labeled him a cult leader due to his figurehead status in The Zeitgeist Movement. Others accuse him of affiliations with conspirators of a New World Order. Fresco dismisses these accusations.

His hypothesis of a resource-based economy is sometimes equated with Marxism, socialism, communism or technocracy. Fresco responds to these comparisons by stating, "The aims of The Venus Project have no parallel in history, not with communism, socialism, fascism or any other political ideology. This is true because cybernation is of recent origin. With this system, the system of financial influence and control will no longer exist."

One writer notes, "it's also true that his system of governance, in which authority is given to the expert in each field — in this case, specially programmed computers — is one that many writers, including Nobel-prize-winner Friedrich Hayek, have shown to be disastrous."

Another writer reviewing one of Fresco's films writes,

''the more I listened to Fresco's specifics and fuzzy non-specifics it seemed to me I was encountering a God-like hubris coupled with the standard sci-fi dreamer's naivete vis á vis human nature. But just as I was jotting this last down in my notes, Fresco cautioned viewers — and it gave me the shivers, since he seemed to be responding directly to my written reservations — to remember that human nature is not synonymous with human behavior; the latter can be changed. Although Fresco's futurist scenario is — in my humble opinion — rife with problems, it's not every day that somebody comes along ambitious enough to offer a blueprint for re-designing the world.''

Other criticisms have implied a scientistic approach due to Fresco's heavy emphasis on science alone to overcome humanity's obstacles,

''His vision is eminently practical, and although this constitutes an innovative and welcome element with reference to previous utopian projections, his focus on science alone makes him fail as a generalist – the criticism Fresco himself passed on academics and scientists. Today's pressing problems require a holistic approach – various disciplines, arts science, philosophy working on a "convergence mode", unfortunately Fresco's vision seems to consolidate the long established view that the "two cultures" (Science and Art) are antagonistic.''

Focusing on accusations of utopianism, a writer from the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies remarks, "For most people, the promise of the project sounds like an unattainable utopia, but if you examine it more closely, there are surprisingly many scientifically founded arguments that open up an entire new world of possibilities." Another writer for CIFS points out,

''Perhaps the modern interpretation of the word "utopia" is to blame when the Renaissance man and futurist Jacque Fresco says ... he doesn't want to call his life work, The Venus Project, a utopia. However, this visionary idea of a future society has many characteristics in common with the utopia. ... the word utopia carries a double meaning, since in Greek it can mean both the good place (eutopia) and the nonexisting place (outopia). A good place is precisely what Fresco has devoted his life to describing and fighting for."''

In response to association with utopianism, Fresco has stated, "We do not believe in the erroneous notion of a utopian society. There is no such thing. Societies are always in a state of transition. We propose an alternative direction, which addresses the causes of many of our problems. There are no final frontiers for human and technological achievement." One writer suggests instead that "The Venus project is no static utopia, rather a dynamic one: it requires an incremental process driven by an ever-changing extropic ideal."

Art historian Hans-Ulrich Obrist notes, "Fresco's future may, of course, seem outmoded and his writings have been subject to critique for their fascistic undertones of order and similitude, but his contributions are etched in the popular psyche and his eco-friendly concepts continue to influence our present generation of progressive architects, city planners and designers."

When asked by a reporter why he has such difficulty actualizing his many ideas, Fresco responded, "Because I can't get to anybody. I have no credentials." Nevertheless, positive attitudes toward Fresco regard him as "a genius, a prophet, and a visionary." General praise appears among futurists, especially the World Future Society who have considered him a visionary engineer in review of his work in the ''Futurist'', commenting, "Whether the future Fresco envisions is probable or even possible is open to debate, but he succeeds in conveying the power of thinking of the future on a grander scale than we're used to." Fresco's work has been compared to the work of Paolo Soleri and especially Buckminster Fuller for all attempting to actualize their vision against great odds, as well as Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and Da Vinci for sharing affluence in prolific innovation. The elaborate scope of Fresco's designs intrigued Forest Ackerman and Arthur C. Clarke who, late in his life, briefly tried to help Fresco get exposure for The Venus Project. Synergetics theorist Norman Arthur Coulter appreciated Fresco's vision for his attempt to accomplish it "not for profit, but to meet the needs of human beings." Author, Harold Cober, comments, "Once you've seen the man's ideas and buildings, you can't let go of it." Bruce Eisner mentions that the Venus Project shares similar aims as his Island Sanctuary Project. Commenting on what he sees as Fresco's inspirational and charismatic teaching methods, physicist, Paul G. Hewitt, cites Fresco as being one of the three major sources of inspiration, turning him away from work as a sign painter and toward a career in science.

Psychologist and scientist, Jack Catran, notes,

''Contemplate the staggering realistic views of the future published by Jacque Fresco ... There are many futurists, "geniuses", and self-styled seers in our midst who, upon careful examination, turn out to be disappointingly commercial and exploitive. Most extrapolations into the future are made from fixed and narrow points of view. We are all products of today's mediocrity-breeding culture, but if anyone can be called a genius in our money system society, Jacque Fresco should be singled out as the broadest, most aware, individual of our time.''

At Drexel University, sociologist and futurist, Arthur B. Shostak, often incorporated Fresco's ideas into his writing and teaching, stating,

''His contribution to futuristics is singular, as few, if any around the globe, dare the sweep, the depth, and the drama of his vision. When he writes or speaks, futurists grow quiet, pensive, and finally, appreciative — as his work is sound in its call for a thorough examination of the assumptions under which we labor. While little of his vision may materialize in the lifetime of us all, our grandchildren may yet salute much of what Jacque first helped them set in motion.''

In 2008 the Raelian Movement gave Fresco their Honorary Guide award for dedicating "his life to the betterment of humanity as a whole." In 2010, it was announced that Fresco has been selected to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Exemplar-Zero Initiative in the summer of 2011.

Works

Books

Articles

''Modern Food Production''

''Designing the Future: A Cybernetic City For the Next Century'' in ''The Futurist''. Vol. 28, No. 3. pp. 29–33. (May/June 1994).

''The Future and Beyond'' The Venus Project, Inc. (2000)

with Meadows, Roxanne. ''Beyond Utopia'' in ''Utopian Thinking in Sociology: Creating the Good Society.'' pp. 86–92 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. American Sociological Association. (2001). OCLC 49561995.

with Meadows, Roxanne. ''The Future by Design: Beyond Money and Politics'' in ''Viable Utopian Ideas: Shaping a Better World.'' pp. 197–205 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. London/Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. (2003). ISBN 0765611058. OCLC 473852611.

with Meadows, Roxanne. ''Reinventing Iraq'' in ''In the Shadow of War.'' pp. 147–154 edited by Arthur B. Shostak. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House. (2004). ISBN 9781438124681. OCLC 646806392.

Films

''The Venus Project: The Redesign of a Culture'' (1994)

''Welcome to the Future'' (1998)

''Cities in the Sea'' (2002)

''Self-erecting Structures'' (2002)

''Designing the Future'' (2006)

References

Durrani, Noni. (2007). ''The Future: Jacque Fresco On The Future'', ''Forbes''

Gia Films. (2010). ''Frequency of Genius'', Gia Film Productions

Gazecki, William. (2006) ''Future By Design'', Docflix

Hoving, K. (2002). ''Engineering the Impossible'', Discovery Channel

Joseph, Peter. (2008). ''Zeitgeist Addendum'', Gentle Machine Productions

Joseph, Peter. (2011). ''Zeitgeist: Moving Forward'', Gentle Machine Productions

Maja Borg, M. (2011). ''Future For Sale'', Sonja Henrici, SDI Productions Ltd.

Wachtmeister, J. (2007). ''Great Expectations: A Journey through the History of Visionary Architecture'', Solaris Filmproduktion

External links

www.thevenusproject.com — The Venus Project

www.youtube.com/user/thevenusprojectmedia — The Venus Project YouTube channel

Category:1916 births Category:American social sciences writers Category:Futurologists Category:Living people Category:People from Florida Category:Critics of work and the work ethic

cs:Jacques Fresco da:Jacque Fresco de:Jacque Fresco et:Jacque Fresco es:Jacque Fresco eo:Jacque Fresco fr:Jacque Fresco it:Jacque Fresco he:ז'ק פרסקו hu:Jacque Fresco nl:Jacque Fresco pl:Jacque Fresco pt:Jacque Fresco ru:Фреско, Жак fi:Jacque Fresco tr:Jacque Fresco uk:Жак Фреско

name	Larry King
birth name	Lawrence Harvey Zeiger
birth date	November 19, 1933
birth place	Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
religion	Jewish (1933–1966)Agnostic (1966–present)
occupation	Television/Radio personality
years active	1957–present
spouse	Freda Miller (1952–1953, annulled); Annette Kaye (1961, divorced); Alene Akins (1961–1963; divorced)Mickey Sutphin (1963–1967, divorced); Alene Akins (1967–1972, divorced); Sharon Lepore (1976–1983, divorced); Julie Alexander (1989–1992, divorced); Shawn Southwick (1997–present)}}

Larry King (born November 19, 1933) is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards. He began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s and became prominent as an all-night national radio broadcaster starting in 1978. From 1985-2010, he hosted the nightly interview TV program ''Larry King Live'' on CNN, a network for which he continues to host specials.

Early life

King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York City, to an Austrian immigrant Edward Zeiger, a restaurant owner and defense plant worker, and his wife Jennie Gitlitz, a garment worker, who emigrated from Belarus. King grew up in a religiously observant Jewish home, but in adulthood became an agnostic.

King's father died at 44 of heart disease, and his mother had to go on welfare to support her two sons. His father's death greatly affected King, and he lost interest in school. After graduating from high school, he worked to help support his mother. From an early age, however, he had wanted to go into radio. King is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Career

Miami radio and television

A CBS staff announcer, whom King met by chance, told him to go to Florida, a growing media market where openings still existed for inexperienced broadcasters. King rode a bus to Miami. After initial setbacks, King persisted and got his first job in radio. The manager of a small station, WAHR (now WMBM) in Miami Beach, hired him to clean up and perform miscellaneous tasks. When one of their announcers quit, they put King on the air. His first broadcast was on May 1, 1957, when he worked as the disc jockey from 9 a.m. to noon. He also did two afternoon newscasts and a sportscast. He was paid $55 a week. He acquired the name Larry King when the general manager Martial Cemen said that Zeiger was too ethnic and difficult to remember, so Larry chose the surname ''King'', which he got from an ad in ''The Miami Herald'' for King's Wholesale Liquor, minutes before air. He started interviewing on a midmorning show for WIOD, at Pumpernik's Restaurant in Miami Beach. He would interview anyone who walked in. His first interview was with a waiter at the restaurant. Two days later, singer Bobby Darin, in Miami for a concert later that day, walked into Pumpernik's as a result of coming across King's show on his radio; Darin became King's first celebrity interview guest.

His Miami radio show launched him to local stardom. A few years later, in May 1960, he hosted ''Miami Undercover,'' airing Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. on WPST-TV Channel 10 (now WPLG). On the show, he moderated debates on important issues of the time. King credits his success on local TV to the assistance of another showbiz legend, comedian Jackie Gleason, whose national TV variety show was being filmed in Miami Beach during this period. "That show really took off because Gleason came to Miami," King said in a 1996 interview he gave when inducted into the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. "He did that show and stayed all night with me. We stayed till five in the morning. He didn't like the set, so we broke into the general manager's office and changed the set. Gleason changed the set, he changed the lighting, and he became like a mentor of mine." Jackie Gleason was instrumental in getting Larry a hard-to-get on air interview with Frank Sinatra during this time.

During this period, WIOD gave King further exposure as a color commentator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, during their 1970 season and most of their 1971 season. However, he was dismissed by both WIOD and television station WTVJ as a late-night radio host and sports commentator as of December 20, 1971, when he was arrested after being accused of grand larceny by a former business partner. Other staffers covered the Dolphins' games into their 24–3 loss to Dallas in Super Bowl VI. King also lost his weekly column at the ''Miami Beach Sun'' newspaper. The charges were dropped on March 10, 1972, and King spent the next several years in reviving his career, including a stint as the color announcer in Louisiana for the Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League in 1974–75 on KWKH. Eventually, King was rehired by WIOD in Miami. For several years during the 1970s in South Florida, he hosted a sports talk-show called "Sports-a-la-King" that featured guests and callers. He is known for voice Doris in Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, and Shrek forever After,

National radio

In 1978, he went national, inheriting the nightly talk show slot on the Mutual Broadcasting System, broadcast coast-to-coast, that had been "Long John" Nebel's until his death, and had been pioneered by Herb Jepko. One reason King got the Mutual job is that he had once been an announcer at WGMA-AM in Hollywood, Florida, which was then owned by C. Edward Little. Little went on to become president of Mutual and was the one who hired King when Nebel died. King's Mutual show developed a devoted audience.

It was broadcast live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. King would interview a guest for the first 90 minutes, with callers asking questions that continued the interview for another 90 minutes. At 3 a.m., he would allow callers to discuss any topic they pleased with him, until the end of the program, when he expressed his own political opinions. That segment was called "Open Phone America". Some of the regular callers used the pseudonyms "The Portland Laugher", "The Miami Derelict", "The Todd Cruz Caller", "The Scandal Scooper", "Mr. Radio" and "The Water Is Warm Caller". "Mr. Radio" made over 200 calls to King during Open Phone America. The show was successful, starting with relatively few affiliates and eventually growing to more than 500. It ran until 1994.

For its final year, the show was moved to afternoons, but, because most talk radio stations at the time had an established policy of local origination in the time-slot (3 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time) that Mutual offered the show, a very low percentage of King's overnight affiliates agreed to carry his daytime show and it was unable to generate the same audience size. The afternoon show was eventually given to David Brenner and radio affiliates were given the option of carrying the audio of King's new CNN evening television program. The Westwood One radio simulcast of the CNN show continued until December 31, 2009.

CNN

He started his ''Larry King Live'' CNN show in June 1985, hosting a broad range of guests from controversial figures of UFO conspiracy theories and alleged psychics, to prominent politicians and leading figures in the entertainment industry, often doing their first or only interview on breaking news stories on his show.

Unlike many interviewers, King has a direct, non-confrontational approach. His reputation for asking easy, open-ended questions has made him attractive to important figures who want to state their position while avoiding being challenged on contentious topics. His interview style is characteristically frank, but with occasional bursts of irreverence and humor. His approach attracts some guests who would not otherwise appear. King, who is known for his general lack of pre-interview preparation, once bragged that he never read the books of authors before making an appearance on his program.

In a show dedicated to the surviving Beatles, King asked George Harrison's widow about the song "Something", which was written about George Harrison's first wife. He seemed surprised when she did not know very much about the song.

Throughout his career King has interviewed many of the leading figures of his time. CNN claimed during his final episode that he had performed 60,000 interviews in his career.

King also wrote a regular newspaper column in USA Today for almost 20 years, from shortly after that newspaper's origin in 1982 until September 2001. The column consisted of short "plugs, superlatives and dropped names" but was dropped when the newspaper redesigned its "Life" section. The column was resurrected in blog form in November 2008 and on Twitter in April 2009.

Departure

On June 29, 2010, King announced that after 25 years, he would be stepping down from his nightly job hosting ''Larry King Live''. However, he stated that he would remain with CNN to host occasional specials. The announcement came in the wake of speculation that CNN had approached Piers Morgan, the British television personality and journalist, as King's primetime replacement, speculation confirmed in September.

The final edition of ''Larry King Live'' aired on December 16, 2010. The show concluded with his last thoughts and a thank you to his audience for watching and supporting him over the years.

Other ventures

King was the moderator of the 6th KAZENERGY Eurasian Forum in Astana, Kazakhstan, an annual forum for Kazakhstan's energy sector occurring in October 2011.

Charitable works

As a result of heart attacks, he established the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, an organization to which David Letterman, through his American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming, has also contributed. King gave $1 million to George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs for scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. King serves as a member of the Board of Directors on the Police Athletic League of New York City, a nonprofit youth development agency serving inner-city children and teenagers.

On September 3, 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, King aired "How You Can Help", a three-hour special designed to provide a forum and information clearinghouse for viewers to understand and join nationwide and global relief efforts. On January 18, 2010, in the wake the 2010 Haiti earthquake, King aired "Haiti: How You Can Help", a special two-hour edition designed to show viewers how to take action and be a part of the global outreach. Following the Deepwater Horizon explosion, King aired "Disaster in the Gulf: How You Can Help", a special two-hour edition designed to show viewers how to take action in the clean-up efforts on the Gulf Coast.

On August 30, 2010, King served as the host of Chabad's 30th annual "To Life" telethon, in Los Angeles.

Controversial positions

On September 10, 1990, while on ''The Joan Rivers Show,'' Rivers asked King which contestant in the Miss America pageant was "the ugliest". King responded, "Miss Pennsylvania. She was one of the 10 finalists and she did a great ventriloquist bit [...] The dummy was prettier." King was a judge for the September 8, 1990 pageant. King later sent Miss Pennsylvania, Marla Wynne, a dozen long-stemmed roses and a telegram apologizing for saying she was the ugliest contestant in the pageant that year.

In 1997, King was one of 34 celebrities to sign an open letter to then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the ''International Herald Tribune'', which protested the treatment of Scientologists in Germany, comparing it to the Nazis' oppression of Jews in the 1930s. Other signatories included Dustin Hoffman and Goldie Hawn.

Personal life

King has been married eight times, to seven different women. He married high-school sweetheart Freda Miller in 1951 at age 18. The union ended the following year at the behest of their parents, who reportedly had the marriage annulled. King was later briefly married to Annette Kaye who gave birth to his son, Larry Jr., in November 1961. King did not meet Larry Jr. until the son was in his thirties. Larry Jr. and his wife, Shannon, have three children.

In 1961, King married his third wife, Alene Akins, a ''Playboy'' bunny at one of the magazine's eponymous nightclubs. The couple had son Andy in 1962, and divorced the following year. In 1963, King married his fourth wife, Mary Francis "Mickey" Sutphin, who divorced King. He remarried Akins, with whom he had a second child, Chaia, in 1969. The couple divorced a second time in 1972. In 1997, Dove Books published a book written by King and Chaia, ''Daddy Day, Daughter Day''. Aimed at young children, it tells each of their accounts of his divorce from Akins.

On September 25, 1976, King married his fifth wife, math teacher and production assistant Sharon Lepore. The couple divorced in 1983.

King met businesswoman Julie Alexander in summer 1989, and proposed to her on the couple's first date, on August 1, 1989. Alexander became King's sixth wife on October 7, 1989, when the two were married in Washington, D.C. The couple lived in different cities, however, with Alexander in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and King in Washington, D.C., where he worked. The couple separated in 1990 and divorced in 1992. He became engaged to actress Deanna Lund in 1995, after five weeks of dating, but they never married.

He married his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick, born in 1959 as Shawn Oro Engemann, a former singer and TV host, in King's Los Angeles, California, hospital room three days before King underwent heart surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel. The couple have two children: Chance, born March 1999, and Cannon, born May 2000. He is stepfather to Danny Southwick. On King and Southwick's 10th anniversary in September 2007, Southwick boasted she was "the only [wife] to have lasted into the two digits". On April 14, 2010, both Larry and Shawn King filed for divorce. but have since stopped the proceedings, claiming "We love our children, we love each other, we love being a family. That is all that matters to us".

On February 24, 1987, King suffered a major heart attack and then had quintuple-bypass surgery. Since then, King has written two books about living with heart disease. ''Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack: How a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery Changed My Life'' (1989, ISBN 0-440-50039-7) was written with New York's ''Newsday'' science editor B. D. Colen. ''Taking On Heart Disease: Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed over the Nation's #1 Killer and How You Can, Too'' (2004, ISBN 1-57954-820-2) features the experience of various celebrities with cardiovascular disease including Peggy Fleming and Regis Philbin.

In July 2009, King appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'', where he told host O'Brien about his wishes to be cryonically preserved upon death, as he had revealed in his book ''My Remarkable Journey''. In December of 2011, preceding a CNN Special on the topic, the Kings had a special dinner with friends Conan O'Brien, Tyra Banks, Shaquille O'Neal, Seth MacFarlane, Jack Dorsey, Quincy Jones and Russell Brand where his intent to do so was reiterated, among other topics that were discussed.

On February 12, 2010, Larry King revealed that he had undergone surgery five weeks earlier to place stents in his coronary artery to remove plaque from his heart. During the segment on Larry King Live which discussed Bill Clinton's similar procedure, King said he was "feeling great" and had been in hospital for just one day.

Awards

King has received many broadcasting awards. He won the Peabody Award for Excellence in broadcasting for both his radio (1982) and television (1992) shows. He has also won 10 CableACE awards for Best Interviewer and for Best Talk Show Series.

In 1989, King was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, and in 1996 to the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. In 2002, the industry magazine ''Talkers'' named King both the fourth-greatest radio talk show host of all time and the top television talk show host of all time.

in June 1998, King received an Honorary Degree from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, for his life achievements.

King was given the Golden Mike Award for Lifetime Achievement in January 2009, by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California.

King is an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills. He is also a recipient of the President's Award honoring his impact on media from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2006.

King is the first recipient of the Arizona State University Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence, presented April 11, 2007, via satellite by Downs himself. Downs sported red suspenders for the event and turned the tables on King by asking "very tough questions" about King's best, worst and most influential interviews during King's 50 years in broadcasting.

References

External links

CNN profile

Larry King Cardiac Foundation - Foundation to fund treatments cardiac patients with little or no insurance

Clark lawsuit

Larry King Live - Transcripts of all interviews since 2000

Larry King interviewed by Gianluca D'Agostino

Larry King Archive of American Television video interview

Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:American actors Category:American agnostics Category:American Jews Category:American talk radio hosts Category:National Radio Hall of Fame inductees Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American voice actors Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish agnostics Category:Miami Dolphins broadcasters Category:National Football League announcers Category:People from Brooklyn Category:World Football League announcers

ar:لاري كينغ be:Лары Кінг bg:Лари Кинг cs:Larry King da:Larry King de:Larry King et:Larry King es:Larry King fa:لری کینگ fr:Larry King gl:Larry King ko:래리 킹 hr:Larry King id:Larry King it:Larry King he:לארי קינג hu:Larry King mn:Ларри Кинг nl:Larry King ja:ラリー・キング no:Larry King pl:Larry King pt:Larry King ro:Larry King ru:Ларри Кинг simple:Larry King sh:Larry King fi:Larry King sv:Larry King th:แลร์รี คิง tr:Larry King uk:Ларрі Кінг zh:拉里·金

name	Jamie Woon
background	solo_singer
born	March 29, 1983
origin	New Malden, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London
instrument	Vocals, Guitar, Production
genre	R&B;, soul, dubstep, post-dubstep
occupation	Singer-songwriter
label	Candent Songs, Polydor Records
associated acts	Burial
website
notable instruments	}}

Jamie Woon (born March 29, 1983) is a British singer, songwriter and producer signed to Polydor who gained widespread acclaim in 2010 for his single ''Night Air'' which was co-produced by Burial, following his previous independent release, ''Wayfaring Stranger'' EP.

The Eurasian son of a Malaysian Chinese father, and Scottish Irish mother (Celtic singer Mae McKenna), he was born and raised in New Malden in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. He was educated at Sacred Heart RC Primary School (New Malden), S.T Catherines RC Middle School (Raynes Park) & Wimbledon College (Wimbledon). He later attended the BRIT School, where he graduated the year behind Amy Winehouse, whom he later supported live.

Woon's sound and style is presently described as soul inflected vocals backed by samplers and programming, or a single guitar track. He describes his music as "... R&B;, it's groove-based vocal-led music ...".

On 4 January 2011, the BBC announced that Woon had been placed fourth in the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll.

Woon's debut album is entitled ''Mirrorwriting'' and was released on 18 April 2011 via Polydor Records.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details ! scope="col" colspan="7"| Peak chart positions |- ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"|UK

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"|BEL (FLA)

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"|BEL (WAL)

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"|DEN

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"|NOR

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"|NLD

! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:85%;"|SWI |- ! scope="row"| ''Mirrorwriting'' |

Released: 18 April 2011

Label: Candent Songs, Polydor

Formats: CD, LP, digital download

| 15 || 9 || 29 || 17 || 14 || 38 || 50 |- |colspan="10" style="font-size:9pt"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |}

Extended plays

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col"| Album Title ! scope="col"| Album details |- ! scope="row"| ''Wayfaring Stranger'' | Released: 19 February 2007

Label: Live Recordings

Formats: LP, digital download

|}

Singles

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Single ! scope="col" colspan="6"| Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:80%;"|UK ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:80%;"|BEL (FLA) ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:80%;"|BEL (WAL) ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:80%;"|DEN ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:80%;"|FRA ! scope="col" style="width:4em;font-size:80%;"|NLD |- | 2010 | align="left"|"Night Air" | 67 || 15 || 29 || — || — || — | rowspan="2"|''Mirrorwriting'' |- | rowspan="1"|2011 | align="left"|"Lady Luck" | 76 || 29 || 71 || 14 || 84 || 56 |- |colspan="10" style="font-size:9pt"|"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |}

Music videos

!Year	!Title	!Director
2007	"Wayfaring Stranger"	Sophie Clements
2008	"Spirits"	–
2010	"Night Air"	Lorzenzo Fonda
2011	"Lady Luck"	–

References

External links

Jamie Woon Interview

Category:English male singers Category:English soul singers Category:English guitarists Category:People educated at the BRIT School Category:People from New Malden Category:English people of Malaysian descent Category:English people of Chinese descent Category:English people of Irish descent Category:People of Scottish-Irish descent Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:1983 births Category:Living people

da:Jamie Woon de:Jamie Woon nl:Jamie Woon

name	The Edge
background	solo_singer
birth name	David Howell Evans
born	August 08, 1961Barking, Essex, England
origin	County Dublin, Ireland
instrument	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano, bass guitar
genre	Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, activist
years active	1976–present
label	Island (1980–2006)Mercury (2006–present)
associated acts	U2, Passengers
website	U2.com
notable instruments	Gibson ExplorerFender StratocasterGibson Les PaulFender TelecasterGretsch Country GentlemanGretsch White FalconRickenbacker 330/12 }}

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge), is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's ''The Joshua Tree'' and 1991's ''Achtung Baby''. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record ''Zooropa'', and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

As a member of U2 and as an individual, The Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison and Tina Turner, and the soundtracks to the musical ''Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of ''A Clockwork Orange''. In 2011, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine placed him at number 38 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Personal life

David Howell Evans was born at the Barking Maternity Hospital, Essex, England to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans. When he was one, his family moved to County Dublin, Ireland where he attended St Andrew's National School. He received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a band. The band accepted both of them. This band went through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change). U2 began performing in various venues in Ireland and eventually began developing a following. Their debut album, ''Boy'', was released in 1980.

In 1981, leading up to the October tour, Evans came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay. During this period, he became involved with a group called Shalom Tigers, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were also involved. Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday". The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983. The couple had three daughters together: Hollie in 1984, Arran in 1985 and Blue Angel in 1989. The couple separated in 1990, but were unable to get officially divorced because of Irish laws regarding marriage annulment; divorce was legalised in 1995 and the couple were legally divorced in 1996. In 1993, The Edge began dating Morleigh Steinberg, a professional dancer and choreographer employed by the band as a belly dancer during the Zoo TV Tour. They had a daughter, Sian (born 1997), and a son, Levi (born 25 October 1999), before marrying on 22 June 2002.

He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film ''It Might Get Loud''.

The Edge has been criticized for his efforts to build five luxury mansions on a 156 acre plot of land in Malibu, California. The California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against the plans, with the project described by the commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, as "In 38 years...one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation...It's a contradiction in terms – you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location." The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed to remain neutral on the issue following a $1 million donation from The Edge and a commitment from The Edge to designate 100 acres of the land as open space for public footpaths.

Music style

Guitar playing

As a guitar player, The Edge has a sound typified by a low-key playing style, a chiming, shimmering sound (thanks in part to the sound of VOX AC-30s) that he achieves with extensive use of delay effects and reverb. The feedback delay is often set to a dotted eighth note (3/16 of a measure), and the feedback gain is adjusted until a note played repeats two or three times.

On 1987's ''The Joshua Tree'', The Edge often contributes just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. He said in 1982 of his style,

"I like a nice ringing sound on guitar, and most of my chords I find two strings and make them ring the same note, so it's almost like a 12-string sound. So for E I might play a B, E, E and B and make it ring. It works very well with the Gibson Explorer. It's funny because the bass end of the Explorer was so awful that I used to stay away from the low strings, and a lot of the chords I played were very trebly, on the first four, or even three strings. I discovered that through using this one area of the fretboard I was developing a very stylized way of doing something that someone else would play in a normal way."

Many different influences have shaped The Edge's guitar technique. His first guitar was an old acoustic guitar that his mother bought him at a local flea market for only a few pounds; he was nine at the time. He and his brother Dik Evans both experimented with this instrument. He said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "I suppose the first link in the chain was a visit to the local jumble sale where I purchased a guitar for a pound. That was my first instrument. It was an acoustic guitar and me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that." The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the ''Achtung Baby'' era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echos.

Vocals

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2. U2's 1983 live album and video release, ''Under a Blood Red Sky'' and ''Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky'' are good reference points for his singing (as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, ''U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle'' and ''Elevation 2001: Live from Boston''). For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are sometimes in the form of a repeated cry; examples of songs that use this approach include "Beautiful Day", "New Year's Day" and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Other technique he uses in his backing vocals is the falsetto, for instance in "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "A Man and a Woman", "The Wanderer", live versions of "The Fly", and "Window in the Skies".

The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" and "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", dual vocals with Bono in "Discotheque", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug". He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's birthday). He also does a solo version of the song "Love is Blindness" that is featured in the documentary DVD "From the Sky Down".

Other instruments

He has played piano and keyboards on many of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please". In live versions of "New Year's Day", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Your Blue Room", and "Moment of Surrender", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. In most live versions of "Original of the Species," piano is the only instrument played during the song.

Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he occasionally plays bass guitar, including the live performances of the song "40" where The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments.

Solo recordings

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jay-Z, and Rihanna.

The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film ''Captive'' (1986). From this soundtrack the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor was released as a single.

He also created the theme song for season one and two of ''The Batman''. He and fellow U2 member, Bono, wrote the lyrics to the theme of the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye''. The Edge, along with fellow bandmate Bono, recently composed a musical adaptation of Spider-Man. On May 25, 2011, a single titled ''Rise Above 1: Reeve Carney Featuring Bono and The Edge'' was released digitally. The music video was released on July 28, 2011.

Musical equipment

The Edge plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap steel guitar.

Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.

Philanthropy

In 2005, The Edge along with Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz co-founded Music Rising, a charity that helped provide replacement instruments for those that were lost in Hurricane Katrina. The instruments were originally only replaced for professional musicians but they soon realized the community churches and schools needed instruments as well. The charity's slogan is "Rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note" and has so far helped over a hundred musicians who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Edge also serves on the board of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health by advancing angiogenesis-based medicine, diets, and lifestyle.

See also

List of people on stamps of Ireland

Timeline of U2

References

;Footnotes

;Bibliography

External links

U2.com, official U2 site

Music Rising

The Edge – Album Credits

A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay

The Edge: 'It's all about the vision'

Food Bank For New York City public service announcement

Comment on the mathematical analysis of The Edge's guitar sound

Category:Irish male singers Category:Irish rock guitarists Category:Irish people of Welsh descent Category:People from County Dublin Category:People from Dalkey Category:Lead guitarists Category:Slide guitarists Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Golden Globe Award winning musicians Category:Backing vocalists Category:U2 members Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Pseudonymous musicians

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