Tuesday 4 November 2014

Beneath the surface

A couple of posts ago, I talked about the value of the opinions or contributions of others towards your work. Case in point, Richard Hayes – a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Interplanetary Society – has kindly contributed some specially written text to accompany the science fiction artwork on my website.

Not content with my own descriptions of the background to the pieces, I wanted something more evocative and interesting to accompany the artwork – something to perhaps raise questions. Richard’s text does this and more. His narrative sheds new light on some pieces, hits the nail on the head on others, and poses new doubts or questions as to many of the subject matters. This reminds us that on the surface, not everything is always as it seems...


Here is Richard’s text for my latest piece of artwork, First Light:




“A red giant star dominates a planet’s sky, and a city spreads out before us in its unearthly light. We ask ourselves whether the city is in its dying days as a result of an expanding sun - perhaps the remnants of a civilization are surviving in its domed structures. Obviously whoever lives there needs the domes as well as the buildings - presumably the atmosphere is toxic, or has perhaps recently become toxic. Are we witnessing the last stages of a once-great society?

Or could this be the civilization’s normal existence and its inhabitants have learned to survive in what simply looks to us like a hostile environment? It may be thriving within the structures that we see. After all, it’s not a dead city – there are two clear signs of life: a rocket and a land car. It might merely be an image of the time of day when little is going on, and the city is awakening. Or could these be the last inhabitants trying desperately to make their escape from a doomed existence?”


If you enjoyed this, then come and take a look at the rest of the SF gallery pages

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