Sci-Fi-O-Rama

Ok so something a little different here, Non SF/Fantasy related material!

The above images come from a full colour 1968 Magazine Publication “History of the 20th Century” that I came across recently. The magazine was a long running weekly publication that built up in to volumes of 16, forming a substantial encyclopedia of mankinds recent past – as you can imagine, the focus is on colonialism, imperialism and of course war and its devastating effects that have shaped our modern world…

Aside from the extremely in depth content “History of the 20th Century” contains some stunning imagery, all of which has a real “technicolor” saturated feel photography in the way that only 40+ year old colour print can have.

Some notes on the images:

Top: Illustration from a poster produced by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War (1917-20). Wrangelm the White (anti-Bolshevik) general, is shown striding towards Moscow, accompanied by Tsarist officers, a train of priests, officials and capitalists all bearing Tsarist flags… The slogan for this poster was “Wrangel is Coming! Proletarians to arms!”

2nd Top: Allegorical painting: comment on the legacy of war by Russian artist Vereshchagin. Painted in the early years of the 20th Century.

Bottom: From an extensive article on The Boer War; This map details part of the timeline from “The battle of Spion Kop” – which the article notes was perhaps the bloodiest single engagement of the war.

For more imagery from “History of the 20th Century” check Flickr user Mando Maniacs gallery
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mando_gal/sets/72157600556461108/

Two samples of wonderfully coloured, surrealist fantasy painting from Filipino Artist Rom Villaseran.  I first encountered this distinctive work whilst browsing through FFFFound and decided to get in touch…

A native of Manila, Rom began his career as a visual artist creating album covers for local rock bands, he adds “It was a lot of fun, but I was looking for something more fulfilling – I wanted to build a series of paintings that would better describe the world that I have in my head“. In 2000 Rom put on a 30-piece show called Matadora and has since held 4 more solo shows: Pre-Lunar, Lunar, Piloto ng Hatinggabi (The Pilot of Midnight) and Foreplay.

I asked Rom about the motives behind his artand he describes it as “Most, if not all, of my work are self-portraits. I know it sounds egotistical, but if I wanted to be honest in my work, I’d have to talk about things that I know and understand. The inspiration for the pieces may not be fantastical ideas, they are actually very simple realities that have happened to me over the years. But once these experiences are filtered through my mind, they become scenes and characters from my fantasy world. It really is like living life in your own head. “

The two samples I’ve included are from the Piloto ng Hatinggabi series, the Top is entitled “Awit Sa Ambon” (Song for Rain) and the second “Biyaheng Talon” (Journey by the Waterfall).

Of Awit Sa Ambon Rom adds “is about me coexisting with my paintings, my work. The bird is singing for rain to nourish the tree, which in return, provides a home for the bird”. And of Biyaheng Talon “it’s about a kid going through a journey. he rides a carriage that is being lifted by birds. Instead of money as payment for passage, he gives them fish. I have always been far more fascinated with the journey one takes rather than the destination.”

Rom sites his influences as “Like everyone else, I grew up enjoying the works of H.R. Giger and Dave McKean. But when I came across the works of Ian Miller (Luck in the Head), and Kent Williams (Meltdown-Wolverine), back in 1995, that’s when I knew I wanted to paint my world for the rest of my life. These guys are amazing!”

Cheers Rom!!

**

See the full portfolio (hosted on the excellent Cargo Platform) over at http://cargocollective.com/romvillaseran

Originally spotted via Folkert Gorter’s AKA Superfamous FFFFOUND posts.

Here’s a new set of 8 tracks to follow on from last years original “Sci-Fi-O-Rama Spotify Playlist” – this bunch I’ve imaginatively entitled #02!

Once again a bit of a mixed bag of spacey electronic sounds starting with the warm, radial ambiance of Loscil’s “Umbra”, before shifting into slo-mo synth house territory, tripped out techno, finally finishing off with a track from my favourite act of the moment; Blondes and “You mean so much to me”.

Here’s a full tracklisting, hope you enjoy!

1. Loscil – Umbra
2. Coyote – Beat Journey
3. Kathy Diamond, Mario Basanov & Vidis – In My System (Downtown Party Network Remix)
4. Gus Gus – Northern Lights
5 Lazersonic, Zak Frost – Aquaplane (Unit 4 Remix)
6. Dance Disorder – Zusammen (Instrumental)
7. Giorgos Gatzigristos – Binary Star System
8. Blondes – You Mean So Much To Me

Here’s the link for the Spotify URL: http://is.gd/dgvou

*Note that you must have the Spotify App installed, and of course be signed up to the premium service to dodge the Adverts. Artwork once again from Eric Carl’s fabulous Flickr Photostream: http://is.gd/dgxcE

Ian Albinson over at the excellent artofthetitle.com got in touch with me the other day asking me to help identify the original artists and books that were used in the title sequence of the 2009 Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) Comedy “Gentlemen Broncos“. You can view a movie of the the whole sequence here: http://is.gd/dbKfK

In total of 24 books were used by production designer Richard A Wright in creating the title sequence, and I’ve included a small selection here. A few of the designs look familiar, but I must confess I don’t actually know for sure and wondered whether any readers can help out?

Some notes on the featured images:

Top: This looks either like a Frank Frazetta or possibly Peter Andrew Jones – not sure though!

2nd Top: I was thinking this has an echo of Peter Elson ? looks like a 70’s cover

3rd Top: A really well rendered painting, an older cover I think – early 60s’?

4th Top: This reminds me somewhat of StarWars concept artist Ralph Mcquarrie – late 70’s?

5th Top: No idea here! cool though…

6th Top: Again this looks slightly older – a 60’s cover?

7th Top: I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this one browsing through the extensive Flickr Sci-Fi-Books Pool but alas I didn’t favourite it.

Please do post a comment if you are familiar with any of the covers featured above or from the movie.  Also, do make a point to check out Ian’s site – a superb read & inspiration resource: http://www.artofthetitle.com/

Finally here’s a link to the trailer for Gentlemen Broncos staring the excellent Sam Rockwell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdpFpfIBkXc

A selection of four Images taken from British Artist Ian Miller’s Illustrated compendium “Green Dog Trumpet and Other Stories” (published by Dragons Dream 1978) a book I’m lucky enough to own.

Green Dog Trumpet and Other Stories contains 5 abstract visual tales, each with a loose narrative but no written dialogue – this works splendidly, forcing you to attempt intense studies of  meticulously detailed, chaotic compositions. I tend to find that with each new browsing I notice something new, and it’s hardly surprising – even though some of the illustrations are small there amazingly intricate, worlds you can totally loose yourself in.

As I’ve mentioned in the past Ian is one of my favourite artist’s I feature on the blog, mainly because as a style of illustration it’s just so out there. In fact,  fairly recently on a trip to the cinema I caught Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland re-imaging which (superflous 3d aside) looked, as you might expect visually stunning – once again reminding me of certain close similarities between Miller and Burton’s work. I wonder if there paths have crossed at all ? or if Burton and his team have referenced Miller in the same way Roger Dean was obviously referenced by James Cameron and his Designers for last years SF blockbuster Avatar… Just a thought!