Desperate, tender, doomed—Beksinski’s couple are heartbreaking. Untitled In one of the most directly affecting pieces on this list, Zdizslaw Beksinski presents the charred and skeletal forms of a couple clinging to one another in the aftermath of some disaster. The red and orange palette suggests some form of fiery destruction, whether nuclear or solar, and […]
A New York artist has been combining his love for staples and Star Wars to create stunningly intricate works of art. 40-year-old James Haggerty makes pictures of iconic Star Wars characters using tens of thousands of multi colored staples in organized patterns. Some of his most notable works are Darth Vader (made from 10,496 staples), […]
What is it about science and the future and how the science fiction of the past (pre-1950s) almost never could encapsulate the superior scientific innovation and discovery of its near future? And, like most science fiction at that time they considered that our threats would come from outer space. I guess that’s why I like […]
by Brian Handwerk, smithsonian.com Science fiction pioneer H.G. Wells conjured some futuristic visions that haven’t (yet) come true: a machine that travels back in time, a man who turns invisible, and a Martian invasion that destroys southern England. But for a man born 150 years ago, many of Wells’s other predictions about the modern world […]
Photograph: George Orwell at work on his trusty old typewriter. (Public Domain). The effect of Nineteen Eighty-Four on our cultural and linguistic landscape has not been limited to either the film adaptation starring John Hurt and Richard Burton, with its Nazi-esque rallies and chilling soundtrack, nor the earlier one with Michael Redgrave and Edmond O’Brien. […]
George Orwell. Photograph: Public Domain by Robert McCrum “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” Seventy years after the publication of Orwell’s masterpiece, Nineteen Eighty-Four, that crystal first line sounds as natural and compelling as ever. But when you see the original manuscript, you find something else: not […]
Portmagee, Ireland John O’Dwyer, a member of the costuming club 501st Legion Garrison Ireland, dressed as Darth Vader, looks out towards Skellig. The small County Kerry fishing village of Portmagee hosted the Star Wars festival for the second year running. Image Credit: Photograph by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Source: The 20 photographs of the week | […]
A daguerrotype of Poe made several months before his death in 1849. Posted By Eliza Strickland. During the waning months of 1847, Edgar Allan Poe sat at his desk with a tortoiseshell cat draped around his shoulders and dreamed the universe into being. Poe believed the book he wrote in that feline-festooned state to be […]
What does space travel look like? Even now, in the 21st century, very, very few of us know first-hand. But we’ve all seen countless images from countless eras purporting to show us what it might look like. As with anything imagined by man, someone had to render a convincing vision of space travel first, and […]
Human missions to the red planet could follow in the path of the Curiosity rover (above) as soon as 2033. Photograph: Alamy Wanted: smart, fit and unflappable applicants for humanity’s first mission to Mars. Must have: crazy wig, oversized boots and a big red nose.It is enough to make Neil Armstrong spin in his grave, […]
