To talk about the future is to talk about the diffuse events of tomorrow, in a permanent state of mutation. Our image of what is to come always mutates in relation to the beliefs and reveries of the present and that is why it is feasible to make historiography of the future, a sort of paleofuturo through which to investigate and examine what our visions of tomorrow have been. But for this, first of all, we need to imagine it, draw it, translate it into works of art.
The Barbican Center knows it perfectly. In order to spread the inauguration of its long-awaited exhibition Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction, opening from next June, the London arts center called a sci-fi signage contest with Wrap magazine. The results have been released this week and are fabulous. Five posters that illustrate what we can expect from tomorrow through powerful visual metaphors.
The works can be purchased here for 20 pounds and will complement the interesting exhibition that visitors to the center can enjoy until September, in which an aesthetic, philosophical and artistic walk will be made through the various sci ideas -fi who have articulated our vision of the future. From the origins of the genre in Jules Verne to the modern dystopias of Margaret Atwood or Jack Kirby, the trip promises to be exciting.
In line with the contents of the exhibition, a group of curators from the center have selected five pieces from among the many submitted to the contest. Are these:
Art Forms of Fiction, by BloodBros
A kind of botanical drawing about the molecular life forms of tomorrow. The jury has given him the first prize for his technical quality and for his ability to stick to fiction through a mundane and not especially metaphorical framework. Because the future will also be a boring place where botanists specialized in alien bugs will have to catalog and draw.
Departure Print, by Ed Blut
On the contrary, pure visual power: a game of mirrors where an astronaut (or the projection of the image of the future of the human being through the mirror of science fiction, depending on how you look at it) says goodbye to his partner before taking off towards Distant worlds. It is poetic, metaphorical and reveals the gaze set on the space exploration to which human beings will inevitably be attached.
Old Earth Print, by Guy Warley
The dystopian version of the future: a world of claustrophobic atmosphere and destroyed by the mysterious catastrophic consequences of tomorrow’s technologies in which the old structures (a half-ruined skyscraper) are colonized by elements beyond our control (rare species of mutant plants). The jury highlights his obvious imaginative expertise and visual power.
Space Mum Print, by Andrew Hulme
The kind face of space exploration. Hulme has used, according to him, the billboard iconography of the Soviet Union and fairly simple graphic lines, with a kind look at the children’s universe, when addressing a fairly present theme, on the other hand, such as exploration from our nearby space. There are recognizable astronauts, space rocket satellites and even a pretty cuckoo sputnik.
Horizon Print, by Kirsty Fabiyi
Perhaps our favorite: a painting that mixes pastel tones and exploits the contrasts of light and dark. Fabiyi was inspired by the possibility of finding habitable planets similar to ours after the discovery of Trappist-1. The image shows the closeness of the sun that would illuminate it, top left, and place our figure in dramatic proportion to the discoveries that await us during the exploration of the vast universe.
