Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Ode to Philip K. Dick!

I have been writing an essay comparing the Star Trek exhibition at the Franklin Institute with the more theoretical side of Science Fiction that overlaps with Visual Culture particularly the notion of Dystopian Futures. I believe in the Art World proper this may translate to mean "Abject." A long list of Contemporary Artists come to mind starting with Mike Kelly, Chris Burden, Matthew Barney, Bruce Nauman, Leon Golub, Cindy Sherman and about any "neo-Expressionist" you can think of, particularly Anselm Keiffer. My immediate research into the history of Star Trek and Science Fiction in Popular Culture, as fun as it is, lead me directly to Ridley Scott's, Blade Runner from 1982. This spectacularly visual movie, along with Alien and Terminator set the standard for style and post apocalyptic darkness that has continued until now. Having re-viewed Blade Runner on my new HD system and just seen the third installment of Terminator in the cinema, I am convinced of the impact of these stories and the accurate illustration they make of the future/present day. The underlying concepts defy the actual vehicle of film and the mere term, movie entertainment.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

PKD didn't need HD.

James Rosenthal said...

Thanks for that very wee comment though I expected more from the top expert on PKD alive today!

PI