This is the first book about the life and work of Harley Parker (1915-1992), Canadian museum exhibition designer, typographer, and painter. As friend and collaborator of media luminary Marshall McLuhan, Parker's influence extended far beyond the realm of art. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Genosko shows that Parker’s unique perspective on museums is based on his application of McLuhan’s medium theory to exhibition design. His emphasis on the role of the senses anticipated much of contemporary sensory studies, which will bring his work into focus for a new generation of scholars. A highlight of Parker’s career as Head of General Display at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (1957-1968) was his Hall of Invertebrate Fossils, which opened to considerable acclaim in early 1967. That same year he mounted a multimedia gallery at the Museum of the City of New York. These milestones underscore Parker's profound impact on museum studies and communication theory. Central to this comprehensive study is the rediscovery of Parker's lost manuscript, The Culture Box, which would have confirmed his role as a central figure in the Toronto School of Communication had it not been lost for some fifty years. Scholars in communication, cultural, and museum studies will benefit from this exploration of Parker’s thought, as will those interested in sensory studies and the enduring value of McLuhan’s ideas.

Gary Genosko is an independent writer, editor and cultural critic. He is the author of McLuhan and Baudrillard: The Masters of Implosion (Routledge 1999), Undisciplined Theory (Sage 1998), and Baudrillard and Signs: Signification Ablaze (Routledge 1994); and the editor of The Guattari Reader (Blackwell 1996), among other works. He teaches social and political theory at Lakehead University, and has written extensively on the life and work of activist-intellectual Félix Guattari.

Gary Genosko's profile page

“Genosko has collected impressive historical evidence that illustrates Harley Parker’s foundational contributions to Canadian culture and museum practice as well as Parker’s connection with Marshall McLuhan.” Jaqueline McLeod Rogers, University of Winnipeg

“Gary Genosko seeks to bring Harley Parker, ‘the McLuhan of the museum,’ out from the shadows. In particular, Genosko sheds light on the sensory dimensions of museum exhibition design, which was central to Parker’s approach to all manner of media.” David Howes, author of The Sensory Studies Manifesto