making the moon

The curious book, The Moon: Considered as a Planet, a World and a Satellite (1874) by James Nasmyth - features models as a surrogate moon.

via here

towers in the sky

Hugh Ferriss, Philosophy from The Metropolis of Tomorrow (1929)

An interesting blog named after this book here...

Like the red sky in scenic postcards,  the visuality of the atmosphere in these futuristic cities becomes more interesting than the cities themselves.

strangers in strange lands

Himalaya 2011

Midden 2011

The Shipwreck 2011

The Laboratory 2011

 

Secret Garden 2011

The Flowerless Kingdom 2011

The exhibition, 'Strangers in Strange Lands' was held at the Crows Nest Regional Art Gallery in Queensland in May 2011 and comprised of a series of sculptural works that explored the act of collection, simultaneously referencing kitsch souvenirs and scientific specimens. 

The terrarium-like landscapes mimic my collection of childhood snow-domes from holiday locations. These 'snow-domes' represent the experience of travel. However, rather than being representations of actual locations, these landscapes are responses to my own imaginary journeys through the pages of books such as Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth", Ernst Haeckel's "Artforms in Nature" and Homer's "The Odyssey". Each of these books marry the ideas of exploration, science and reality with the extraordinary, fictitious and mythological.

the most beautiful floating paradise

First Air Show Paris, The Grande Palais 1909

red sky at night...

... sailor's delight

red sky in morning... sailor take warning

I collect postcards... every time I travel I seek the pleasure of finding these early examples of photography and printmaking.

Recently I started to notice a common feature in my postcards, regardless of where they were made in the world - a red sky.

I wonder if the time of day is early morning or late afternoon - which time of day is more picturesque?

Or is this red sky purely for the delight of the lithographers, a way to add colour to an otherwise verdant landscape?

Here are some of my red sky postcards, which made it into a print exchange I participated in recently.

Welcome to Utopia

Vito Acconci, Proposal for Site 3B, Expo 1992, Seville, 1990, 19 1/2 x 78 3/4 x 39 1/4" model at 1/4 scale. Photo by Vito Acconci. Courtesy Acconci Studio.

In Acconci's own words...