Remembering the Future (2005)
Dimensions: 22" W x 30" H x 6" D
Materials: cherry, maple, walnut and ebonized walnut veneer, maple burl, copper, nickel and brass wire.
Finish: Satin polyurethane gel varnish.
I had the opportunity to create the Hugo bases for Chicon in 2000 and Millenium Philcon in 2001. Given the task and the timing, it's not surprising that it got me thinking about the way the beginning of the 21st century was supposed to look when I was a child. I was six when Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the Moon. The space program and space art strongly influenced my childhood, my interest in science fiction, and my career choices as an engineer and then as an artist. To my six-year-old self, the end of the 20th century meant colonies on the Moon and bases on Mars, that we'd be mining the closer asteroids for materials to build ships to explore the outer reaches of the solar system, and, just maybe, we'd be starting to think about interstellar travel.
The idea languished in my sketchbook until early in 2005, when it finally crystallized. "Remembering the Future" is an homage to that childhood vision, and to the scientists and artists who helped shape it.
Page last updated 26 January 2007