Cosmic Ceilings: Glow In The Dark 3D Effect Imagery

Grant Hicks is a painter with a slight difference, he paints Cosmic Ceilings, scenes from outer space onto mainly bedroom ceilings.

Using specialist glow paint (which is actually invisible during the day) he creates stars, shooting stars, blackholes and other such images. These ceilings can only be seen in the dark. They look truly amazing as they have a 3D effect, and you feel as though you are actually looking up to the stars.

He can also do themed ceilings such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and fantasy scenes (images of which you can see below).

He also trains people to do this for a living as self-employed ‘Startists’.

Images Of Ceilings Painted And Websites:
(more…)

Complete Fabrication

It’s What They Do
Whether you need an intergalactic space transporter or Artificial Intelligence to deal with the housework, a hostile environment movie set or a product prototype, we will have or can, invent the solution for you.

It’s In Their Blood
Under the direction their creative director Don Jack, we bring together blue sky thinkers, designers, artists, model makers and imagineers in a common goal to create a whole bunch of crazy stuff that hithero did not exist. You’ll see our work on photography and film, at visitor attractions, conferences, exhibitions and in corporate and private ownership.

Fiction Becomes Fact
Their esteemed client Dr. Bruce Davis (Intelligent Compliant Engineering Limited), the inventor of a new biomimetic robot technology robot system, renowned for its intelligent sensing and organic motion, recently took delivery of a new outer skin for his second generation Vorscht, funded by NESTA, the organisation which works to increase the UK’s capacity for innovation.

The site is a bit minimalist, and to be honest, doesn’t really say exactly it is that they do, but from what I gather, they will attempt to design just about anything you want (after initial talks, of course), and then, if the idea is do-able, they’ll construct it.

And based on some of the pictures they look scifi-ish. So ask ‘em for Termi-lek or a Da-minator! Exterm-back!!! I’ll-Be-Inate!!!!

How Would You Like To Hire A Travelling Scifi Exhibition?

Well here’s a site, Invasion, which contains everything you need, regardless of available space, to host a successful and engaging temporary exhibition.

It can be set up in one day and the ‘loan package’ as they call it, includes spectacular exhibits, display cases, plinths, large format photography and detailed show cards.

There’s also a promotional package which includes customisable poster art, press release flyers / press ads., high quality promotional material and ‘tested bolt-on event ideas’.

You also get an Invasion magazine, Invasion photography and Invasion merchandise.

You can see some of the exhibits here and more here.

Invasion’s range includes Stormtroopers, Jawas and Darth Vader from Star Wars; Robocop; The Terminator’s Chassis and Predator prosthetics.

From reading the press’ thoughts (pdf), the children have loved it (and I bet a fair few adults too), their smiling faces a testment to how they enjoy coming face to face with real-life movie-star-props. It would make a neat surprise birthday or christmas present or a kinky honeymoon addition for any budding scifi enthusiast.

Interzone Cover Artwork All In One Place

On and impluse, I did a search for old Interzone covers on google images, and came back with this site which holds most (if not all) the covers of Interzone from Issue 1 to Issue 199, which strangely enough is exactly where I started subscribing to it.

I particularly liked the way the cover changed slightly from Issue 1 to Issue 2, the total eclipse of the sun moving off centre and the colour changing. Very effective, if simplistic.

You can see how the artwork progressed, and the way in which ’sf’ is being portrayed through art is changing.

It’s also amusing to see how the Interzone logos change over the years, of which I prefer the newest. Although that’s not to say the older ones weren’t ‘cool’ in their day - they just look kind of dated now, which isn’t really true of the artwork itself, it’s stood the test of time.

My favourite is Issue 16 as it reflects the kind of stories I rate high on my list - a world which is similar to our own on the surface, but strange when examined closely.

Looking at the covers, quite a few names jump out. Most notably, J.G Ballard, Christopher Priest, Jonathan Carroll (which I never realised had written for Interzone), Ian Watson, Kim Newman, Greg Bear, Bruce Sterling,, Greg Egan, Eric Brown and William Gibson, to name but a few. Which goes to make an impressive lineup.

A great archive, which covers the covers of the world’s best, British and longest running, sf magazine, although, sadly, the names of the artists are missing.

Cybernetic Humanoid Cyborg Artwork: Luminaries: Et Cetra Gallery, Hackney, London

Jane Webb is an artist that is influenced by science fiction and fantasy. She has a series of cybernectic humanoids (cyborgs) and some alien casted glass work in an art exhibition from 26th July - 2nd August, entitled Luminaries.

Luminaries Venue:
Et Cetra Gallery
1a Darnley Road
Hackney
London E9 6QH

Price:
Free!

Nearest Rail Station:
Hackney Central

Timings:
Monday - Friday 12am - 7pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm.

Jane has been shortlisted a couple of times this year, of which, a list is below. She currently has some work entirled Cyborg DJ on display at the V&A Museum.

Even though Jane prefers to sculpture, she has taken time out to write about her work, explaining her love for creation, science fiction and the ‘not watching properly’ of fantasy and scifi movies.

She is influenced by a lot of science fiction and futuristic imagery from movies and other artists. The strangest thing is she doesn’t watch the movie and keep with the story line, she only watches for visual simulation. She gets too easily distracted by the props, costumes and effects, having a strong interest in mechanical and robotic imagery
going back to early days of the Metropolis movie.

More recently Jane has been working on cyborgs, which have been a strong influence on her work with a combination of lighting effects. United Artists collabarated with Massive Attack to produce an art installation called Volume, If you love the green coded lights on the Matrix, you’ll love this she says. Jane is also inspired by the works of the great H. R . Giger, as seen in the Alien films.

She works in many medias but prodemantly using glass, lighting, circuit boards and recycled computer components, most of which is found on the street. She strips down the components inside anything electrical, looking for interesting parts. Little know fact: the inside of a hair dryer makes a good cyborg eye. Then depending what she is working on, these get constructed with other media and extra wiring and some type of what she calls a wow factor, like lighting with a UV or a set of LEDs spinning on a fan in sequences.

Her glass work can range from her mirror light boxes with imagery, to fused glass. She did a series of an Alien embossed tile in glass and ceramics. This was a long process of mould making and experimenting in a kiln until the desired finished result was achieved. The black tile has been acid etched to give it more depth. If you love H. R. Giger’s work you will definitely love this. She often makes them for collectors on a commission basis.

The Luminaries show coming up is a joint show with artist and photographer John Williams.

Jane Webb is a glass and illumination artist using numerous Medias. This year Jane has been short listed for Pride in the House and Inspire by awards and currently has Cyborg DJ on display in the V&A Museum. Her more recent futuristic works of cybernetic humanoids sculptures and installations combine lighting, recycled computer and electronic components which are found littering our London streets.

These items are salvaged and transformed into cyborgs.

John Williams’ Info:
John Williams creates black and white photographic works in “free-form”. He does this by folding weaving, plaiting and even crushing light-sensitive papers into life size free standing and relief sculptures. Working in three dimensions allows him to exploit the normally forbidden spaces above and below the conventional darkroom focal plane.

Re-objectifying the subject into a physical structure that can be walked around and seen through, change expression as well as casting actual shadows.
(more…)

Aliens in Manchester and East Anglia. Roy Gray Investigates.

Alien Nation Exhibition
Saturday 17 March 2007 - Monday 7 May 2007
Closed Mondays except Bank Holidays
Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3JL
Then later at the Sainsbury Art Gallery, Norwich, October 2nd to December 9th 2007.

The official website states that the Alien Nation Exhibition:
“…explores the relationship between science fiction, race and contemporary art. Twelve contemporary international artists use science fiction and extra-terrestrial forms to explore racial difference as a metaphor for the threat of the outsider.”
“… presents the work of twelve contemporary international artists all of whom explore themes of ‘otherness’ and ‘difference’ through the language and iconography of sci-fi.”
… and “will also show a collection of original sci-fi film posters from the 1950’s to present day, … as well as extracts from contemporary and archive science fiction films…”
“… is an inIVA and ICA touring exhibition supported by the Arts Council England and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.”

Manchester Art Gallery’s classical front end connects to a contemporary rear filled with more modern exhibits. ‘Alien Nation’ caps this latter building away from the Holman Hunt, Lowry, Rossetti, Canaletto etc paintings in the classical galleries.

The exhibition is dedicated to Nigel Kneale and his Quatermass and the Pit was running silently on a TV in the media gallery of the exhibition. Black and white 50’s SF movies (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came from Outer Space, The Thing) were running on other screens in that space but the soundtrack overhead was Orson Wells’ 1938 radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Colourful pulpish posters from Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still and similar 50’s movies filled one wall but where was the credit for the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s pulp magazine covers that predated, and surely influenced, the movie posters?

A second gallery contained a separate darkened room that echoed with the clacking of the five projectors of a, can I say, ‘avante garde’ 16 mm ‘film installation’, plus a video installation, objects, images, and murals.

Mario Ybarra Jnr’s giant mural Brown and Proud impressed me with its busy scenes benevolently presided over by Zapata on one side and Chewbacca in opposition. The exhibition programme suggests they are seen as partners, both rebels facing powerful empires, “whether galactic or earthly”. However for me the cigar smoking ‘Chewy’ prompted thoughts of Castro. I was puzzled by the letters ‘SMS’ in the lower right corner of this mural. Maybe it was a reference to texting but I immediately thought of the Interzone cover and SF artist SMS. The mural’s main female image toted a life and (male) pride threatening AK 47. As a Jim Burns Interzone cover she would bring a host of threats to cancel subscriptions.

Kori Newkirk’s Merck, a curtain maybe 3 metres high and at least a metre wide, made from coloured ponybeads threaded on braided hair was a very effective SF image of an American small town split by a strange vertical yellow beam.

My favourite was Hew Locke’s installation Golden Horde, a bejewelled and beweaponed space fleet, its large spacecraft reminiscent of both Star Wars and the ornate howdahs of a Raja’s wedding.

As an art critic I have serious failings so here are links to reviews by those with a better pedigree:
http://marcusdruen.blogspot.com/search/label/Hackney Sorry, no useful images.

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/london/news/ART42204.html : Good images of the exhibition but not the space fleet.

In summary the gallery is well worth a visit and, while there or in central Manchester, you might as well look in on the Alien Nation exhibition but if you know the gallery and/or live a distance from Manchester then you won’t miss a lot if you can’t get there before May 7th.

See more information on the Alien Nation Exhibition.

The Adventures Of Prince Ziph

Ever imagined how Mars was millions of years ago when it had oceans flowing on its surface? And what about Martians? They were not green, they were … ehmm…different… And had such busy lives that life on Earth was later mostly their fault.

But that’s another story.

What about the meaning of life? Does God have a beard? Does it matter? And what does all this have to do with Area 51?

Who built the Face on Mars? Is Heaven a private club? Is life after death real? How boring is it?

Who runs the universe anyway and does this entity have weekends?

This and plenty of other stupid questions will be answered in this fantasy/scifi saga spread over a few volumes so the author can get some extra bucks, after two years making up all this stuff with watercolors, inks, acrylics and buckets of sweat.

Ziph Comics is certainly a bright, colourful and dazzling place. The comic (and site) is available in Portugese and English, with a French version coming soon. You can see the digital version of Prince Ziph, Part One online, and the printed version is available too, along with concept art and the backstory.

So, it’s a good a reason as any to spend surfing during your lunchbreak.

I’ll do a full review once I’ve bought a pair of shades…

Thanks to Roy for news of this interesting exhibition.

Alien Nation
Saturday 17 March 2007 - Monday 7 May 2007
Manchester Art Gallery
Admission Free

Tues-Sun, 10pm-5pm and 10am-8pm.

17/03/07 - 07/05/07
Manchester Art Gallery
Mosley Street
Manchester M2 3JL

information: +44 161 235 8888

Laylah Ali, Hamad Butt, Ellen Gallagher & Edgar Cleijne, David Huffman, Hew Locke, Marepe, Henna Nadeem, Kori Newkirk, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Eric Wesley and Mario Ybarra Jr.

Alien Nation explores the relationship between science fiction, race and contemporary art. Twelve contemporary international artists use science fiction and extra-terrestrial forms to explore racial difference as a metaphor for the threat of the outsider. The artworks include film, sculpture, photography and multi-media installations.

Much has been written about the connection between sci-fi cinema of the 1950s and ’60s and the Cold War, where fear of invasion, communism and nuclear war was played out in films that projected the anxieties of the present onto the future. In recent years many artists have similarly used science fiction and extra-terrestrial forms as a way of exploring racial difference and as a potent metaphor for the threat of the outsider.

Alien Nation presents the work of twelve contemporary international artists all of whom explore themes of ‘otherness’ and ‘difference’ through the language and iconography of sci-fi. The witty and provocative artworks on display expose a disturbing contemporary narrative in which the media perpetuate a terror of ‘invasion’ from immigrants, asylum seekers (indeed any racial, cultural or ethnic ‘other’) and position such ‘outsiders’ as the dominant threat to both family and national stability.

Mingling fact and fiction, science and art, Alien Nation will also show a collection of original sci-fi film posters from the 1950’s to present day, courtesy of The Reel Poster Gallery, as well as extracts from contemporary and archive science fiction films as part of this unique exhibition that reveals our innermost fears and fantasies about the outsider.

Alien Nation is co-produced by the Institute of International Visual Arts (inIVA) and the Institute Of Contemporary Arts (ICA) touring exhibition supported by the Arts Council England and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

http://www.iniva.org/season/winter/project_01
http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=23

Also on at (may go elsewhere as well.) Not sure if Manchester and Norwich on at the same time and can’t find anything else on the web.

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Art
University of East Anglia
Norwich
NR4 7TJ UK

01/10/06 - 09/12/07
information: +44 1603 593199

Rogue Trooper

A Genetic Infantryman (G.I.), Rogue is one of an elite regiment of biologically-engineered clone troops, created to overcome Nu Earth’s hostile atmosphere and fight, unhindered, against the brutal Nort War machine. After witnessing the betrayal and annihilation of his entire regiment at the Quartz Zone Massacre, Rogue has gone AWOL, determined to hunt down the traitor general who sent his brothers-in-arms to their deaths.

I officially announce there should be a Rogue Trooper Movie. Hollywood take notice. UK Movie Studios take notice.

Erm.. no idea, but it looks awesome in a Jules Verne kind of way.

Eric Borchert’s : Scifi / Fantasy Artwork

Eric is a freelance artist specialising in various areas including science fiction and fantasy - in various mediums.

I particularly like his ’space woman’ art, as it reminds me of the artwork to be found in pulp genre magazine of the 50s and to some extent nowerdays.

As well as genre art, there’s also contemporary art including a self portrait, various famous hollywood actors, planets and sketches.

Also, his site has recently been revamped, so it’s a lot easier to navigate.

Some of the images you will see around the site are taken directly from his site with permission.

Archeology of the Future: It’s a website about the histories and futures of British Science Fiction, with the tagline ‘digging through the past to uncover the future’.

Archeology of the Future believes that there are some things about British science fiction that set it apart from the science fiction of other countries but which are not widely known or explored today. In a series of cultural archeological excavations it uncovers and brings to light forgotten, overlooked or ignored aspects of the british contribution to the history of science fiction.

This is certainly an interesting and informative site, although at time of writing it hadn’t been updated for about a month which is a shame. Worth a look.

The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim

Thunderbirds, War of the Worlds , Images of Sci-Fi. Artist Mike Trim Featured in NewBook Slated for July Release

“A book of Mike Trim’s design work is a thing to be treasured.” — Richard Taylor

Five-time Academy Award winner & Special Effects Director of Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World, and director of Weta Workshop.

In 1964, young Mike Trim answered a newspaper advertisement seeking model makers for a film production crew and embarked on an odyssey that would last for more than four decades. Beginning in the final days of Stingray, Trim went to work as a model maker and designer for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s television series Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Secret Service and UFO - as well as their feature films: Thunderbirds Are GO, Thunderbird 6 and Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (aka Doppelganger).

Starting out in the model shop, Trim later became Special Effects Director Derek Meddings’ assistant in designing the fabulous futuristic architecture, vehicles, and distinctive look of the Andersons’ imaginative series. Eventually, he assumed responsibility for the majority of the design work for the series as Meddings (who won an Academy Award for his work on the 1978 film Superman) became more involved in feature films.

After contributing a single (unused) vehicle design and model to the series Space: 1999, Trim moved into freelance illustration, creating an iconic cover painting for one of the best-selling albums of all time, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, in 1978.

The Art Of Mike Trim. Images Of SciFi.

Celebrating more than forty years as a designer, Trim has now collaborated with author Anthony Taylor to produce a full-color collection of his works. The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim is an in-depth review of the artist’s entire career as a sci-fi designer and illustrator. Featuring hundreds of full-color and black-and-white drawings, paintings, marker comps and photos, the book offers a one-of-a-kind, up-close-and-personal view of how the artist foretells the future at the end of a paintbrush. The illustrations are annotated by Trim via his anecdotes and insights as he worked with the Andersons, Meddings and the crew of Century 21 Films, as well as his experiences as a freelance artist and his account of how the instantly recognizable cover art for The War of the Worlds LP was created. Also chronicled: his techniques and influences, unproduced and upcoming projects, and more. With chapters covering his techniques and early influences, unproduced and upcoming projects and more, The Future was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim is a fitting tribute to an artist whose work has permeated the pop culture landscape for more than forty years, and a meticulous archive of his seminal works in the field of sci-fi art and design.

The Art Of Mike Trim. Images Of SciFi.

AVAILABLE JULY 25, 2006
from Fabgearusa.com, Amazon.com, and book stores worldwide.

All Mike Trim Images Are Copyright.

# # #

The Future Was FAB: The Art of Mike Trim

By Anthony Taylor with Mike Trim

Forewords by Richard Taylor and David Tremont of Weta Workshop

Published by Hermes Press. 128 pages. Trade Paperback, 9×12 inches, $29.95

ISBN: 1932563822

Rebellion and Eidos bring us a first class, thinking persons shooter.

Rogue Trooper is drawn from the character of the British Comic 2000AD. Apparently, outside of the UK this is an almost unknown comic, so therefore the game had to come across as an entity on its own. The backstory, luckily, does include some of the ‘history’ of the character; how he and his kind were ambushed at The Quartz Zone Massacre, betrayed by one of their own Generals.

Rogue is a genetically engineered fighting machine (from test tubes), specially designed for the toxic atmosphere of Nu Earth, one of the galaxy’s most deadly war-zones. He is the only survivor of the massacre, goes A.W.O.L and sets out to hunt down the traitor general and bring him to justice. During the massacre, three of his G.I. buddies are killed, and Rogue removes their bio chips and places them in his gear. Bagman is put in his backbag, Gunnar is placed in his Gun and Helm is put in his Helmet. Their consciousness carries on, and as well as cracking bad jokes, they all play a part in helping Rogue on his vendetta.

The game follows the above ‘backstory’ and then progresses to various locations on Nu Earth. A common enemy on the planet’s surface are the Norts, humans who cannot survive on the planet’s surface without oxygen tanks.

Rogue Trooper, when presented in 2000AD was a visual comic book story. This translates very well to the digital screen and as with all aspects of the game, prior knowledge of either 2000AD or Rogue Trooper is not essential to enjoy the game.

The game is a clever third person shooter, and with your three friends still around, they become an integral part of your survival. They do crack jokes and chit chat amongst themselves, which adds to the game, but they also have skills of their own. Gunnar can be placed so as to cover an area which is remote from where you are, Bagman can be given scrap, which is picked up around the gaming area, and convert it into useful ammo or upgrades. Helm can hack terminals, to name just one skill for each friend. There are many more to discover as you make your way through Nu Earth.

One of my favourite parts of the game is with Gunnar: he aids in targetting and allows you to precision shoot the oxygen tanks of the Norts, where by smoke billows out, they run around hearing the hiss, arms in the air, before the tank ruptures and explodes.

The controls are like second nature, easily accessible; the commentary of the bio chips aids in your initial setup and ‘training’ of the various actions within the game. The game could be seen as quite easy to finish, but I found it a pleasure non the less. With the addition of online gaming, the longevity of this game is increased.

Interzone Issue 204

Cover art made exclusively for Interzone by World Fantasy Award winning artist John Picacio. John has a book out in May called Cover Story, available from amazon.co.uk and elsewhere. Steve Badrich interviews John about his work in this issue of Interzone.

Stories:

Longing for Langalana by Mercurio D. Rivera
illustrated by Stefan Olsen

The Song by Tim Akers
illustrated by Richard Marchand

Palestina by Martin J. Gidron
illustrated by Rik Rawling

The Rising Tide by C.A.L.
illustrated by Ales Horak

Summer’s End by Jamie Barras
illustrated by Maciej Blazejczyk

plus the James Whie Award winner:
A Short History of the Dream Library by Elizabeth Hopkinson

The issue includes all the regular features:
• Nick Lowe’s Mutant Popcorn (films)
• David Langford’s Ansible Link (news & gossip)
• John Clute’s Scores (books)
• Book Reviews edited by Sandy Auden, which itself includes an interview with Hellblazer/Lucifer writer Mike Carey about his novel The Devil You Know, and audio reviews plus interview with Toby Longwort