A fully illustrated overview of the work of David Nash, a contemporary British sculptor famous for his work with natural materials.

At the core of his work is a profound and ever-growing knowledge of trees, enabling Nash to engage closely and intuitively with the characteristics of each species. The extensive statements by him in this book provide a unique insight into both his working methods and the thought processes provoked by this extraordinary collaboration. David Nash is represented in many museum collections including the Tate Gallery, London, the Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museums, New York, and the Setagaya and Metropolitan Art Museums in Tokyo. He was elected RA in 1999 and awarded an OBE in 2004. The introduction to this illustrated book is by the distinguished art historian and critic, Norbert Lynton, who has known and followed the sculptor's work since the late 1960s.

Tracing the subject from the Middle Ages to the present, David Nash outlines the history of blasphemy as a concept - from a species of heresy to modern understandings of it as a crime against the sacred and individual religious identity. Investigating its appearance in speech, literature, popular publishing and the cinema, he disinters the likely motives and agendas of blasphemers themselves, as well as offering a glimpse of blasphemy's victims. In particular, he seeks to understand why this seemingly medieval offence has reappeared to become a distinctly modern presence in the West.

Blasphemy is a phenomenon that spans human experience, from the ancient world right up to today’s ferocious religious debates. Acts Against God is the first accessible history of this crime—its prosecution, its impact, and its punishment and suppression. While acknowledging blasphemy as an act of individuals, Acts Against God also considers the act as a widespread and constant presence in cultural, political, and religious life. Beginning in ancient Greece and the genesis of blasphemy’s link with the state, David Nash moves on to explore blasphemy in the medieval world, where it was used both as an accusation against outsiders and as a method of crusading for piety in the West. He considers how the medieval world developed the concept of heresy as a component of disciplining its populations, the first coherent phase in state control of belief. This phenomenon reached its full flowering in the Reformation, where conformity became a fixation of confessional states. The Enlightenment created agendas of individual rights where room for religious doubt pushed blasphemy into the twilight as modern humankind hoped for its demise. But, concluding in the twenty-first century, Nash shows how individuals and the state alike now seek to adopt blasphemy as a cornerstone of identity and as the means to resist the secularization and globalization of culture.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 The best way to learn about wild plants is to take the time to study them together with an expert. This process takes a long time, but you will learn the most in the safest way possible. #2 The best way to learn about wild edible and medicinal plants is to spend time doing research in a wellstocked library. Do not rely solely on the Internet for your information, as quality control is nonexistent and mistakes can be fatal. #3 I like to play fast and loose with certain things, but with others I force myself to go slow and work the right way. I prefer to gather five or more informational resources and vet them together before trusting my life to a piece of information. #4 The Universal Edibility Test is supposed to allow a person to determine if they can safely eat a wild plant, but many plants are extremely toxic, and even a small amount will result in death.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The best way to learn about wild plants is to take the time to study them together with an expert. This process takes a long time, but you will learn the most in the safest way possible. #2 The best way to learn about wild edible and medicinal plants is to spend time doing research in a well-stocked library. Do not rely solely on the Internet for your information, as quality control is nonexistent and mistakes can be fatal. #3 I like to play fast and loose with certain things, but with others I force myself to go slow and work the right way. I prefer to gather five or more informational resources and vet them together before trusting my life to a piece of information. #4 The Universal Edibility Test is supposed to allow a person to determine if they can safely eat a wild plant, but many plants are extremely toxic, and even a small amount will result in death.

This book marks the major exhibition David Nash at Kew Gardens opening in June 2012 through to April 2013. One of the UK's most prolific creators of ecological art, David Nash will produce and exhibit his work across the Gardens, with sculptures, installations, drawings and film in place throughout the Gardens, glasshouses, and exhibition spaces. Nash will work at Kew on a 'wood quarry' from April 2012, creating new pieces for the exhibition using trees from the Gardens that have come to the end of their natural life, and this ongoing work will form part of the exhibition.In a career spanning 40 years, Nash has created over 2,000 sculptures out of wood, many of them monumental in scale. These sculptures are sometimes carved using a chainsaw or axe, or partially burned to produce a charred surface. Through his work, he has gained a deep understanding of the properties of trees and the artistic process itself is, for Nash, deeply collaborative - between the artist, his material, and the natural world.Extensively illustrated, this book will give a unique insight into Nash's' art and life, and encourage readers to engage with the sculptures and their relation to nature, and the beautiful setting of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.