5 ms·

Not sure there’s a finer visual artist to produce in the medium of retrofuturism than Syd Mead - passed away late last year unfortunately but left an inspiring

Not sure there’s a finer visual artist to produce in the medium of retrofuturism than Syd Mead - passed away late last year unfortunately but left an inspiring catalog and vision of the future that I imagine will endure a very long time -> https://www.iamag.co/the-art-of-syd-mead/ https://www.iamag.co/the-art-of-syd-mead/

sprash 6y ago
If you like Syd Mead check out Klaus Bürgle. To me he nails the Futurism genre like nobody else. Here[1] are some "Space" pictures starting as early as the late 1940s. 1.: http://klausbuergle.de/buergle_weltraum1.htm http://klausbuergle.de/buergle_weltraum1.htm
- sjsone 6y ago
  Getting some Sovietwave vibes from this. Like: https://open.spotify.com/track/7lrNwcY54nhgmMbPtTcx9A https://open.spotify.com/track/7lrNwcY54nhgmMbPtTcx9A
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
  HYPERLOOP! http://klausbuergle.de/images/buergle/750/Personenrohrpost_dnu84_1967.jpg http://klausbuergle.de/images/buergle/750/Personenrohrpost_d... edit: Personenrohrpost How fitting.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
airstrike 6y ago
Thanks for this. Here are some more easily downloadable images in case others also want to find a new wallpaper: https://wall.alphacoders.com/unregistered.php?id=6436 https://wall.alphacoders.com/unregistered.php?id=6436
fanatic2pope 6y ago
Makes me think of OMNI magazine.
cxr 6y ago
Simon Stålenhag does really great work that if not considered retro-futurism proper is something else that doesn't seem to have a name but certainly is at least in a space adjacent to retro-futurism. http://www.simonstalenhag.se/ http://www.simonstalenhag.se/
- bpiche 6y ago
  Cyberpunk or postcyberpunk if I you ask me
- jacobush 6y ago
  My fav
- ccozan 6y ago
  There is a full story behind that art. I love it. Thanks.
- runeb 6y ago
  Dystopian sci fi, maybe
- chrbr 6y ago
  This is great, thanks so much for linking this. Might have to buy a couple of prints.
- jonnydubowsky 6y ago
  Nathaniel Halpern (Legion) created an amazing adaptation of Stalenhag's artwork for Amazon. It's unlike anything I've ever seen and definitely worth a watch. https://www.engadget.com/amazon-tales-from-the-loop-simon-stalenhag-making-of-140005163 https://www.engadget.com/amazon-tales-from-the-loop-simon-st...
keyle 6y ago
Beautiful I came to post about this artist and you did it for me. His art is incredible.
black_puppydog 6y ago
Thank you for this, I did not know about Syd Mead, but just flipping through the images on that page it's clear how influential he was. Wikipedia lists pretty much exactly the associations I made: > Mead worked with major studios on the feature films: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Short Circuit, Aliens, The Spirit of '76, Timecop, Johnny Mnemonic, Mission: Impossible III, Elysium, Tomorrowland and Blade Runner 2049. George Lucas created the AT-AT for his Star Wars saga based on art by Mead. This is in no way to diminish his work, but the impression I got (and that I'm trying to confirm/debunk, given the wikipedia article doesn't really address this) is that his art really transposes the society of its time into the future. That is, he almost exclusively addresses the technological advancement, while keeping the societal structures largely intact. For example, that's why the retrofitted houses give the impression of still being inhabited largely by working class people, while the ski resort and leisure time imagery with the sports cars still seems to be a luxury only few can afford even in the future. I don't see signs of "fully automated luxury space communism" there. This may be me projecting though, hence the question if this is correct. And again, this is not to take away from his work. They are stunning. :)
- sgift 6y ago
  > That is, he almost exclusively addresses the technological advancement, while keeping the societal structures largely intact. Looks like it to me too. Which is probably far more realistic than all the "society will radically change thanks to technology" takes. In the last 70 years we've seen technological advances we couldn't have dreamed off yet society is in most parts still the same as it was back then. Sure, progress has been made, but not as much as many scifi writers hoped for.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    It depends what you mean by "progress." No one imagined Facebook and Twitter or even Microsoft and Apple. But also no one imagined gay rights and other progressive changes, or the general change in social register and emotional tone. What hasn't changed much is - ironically - movies and science fiction itself. All the old 50s tropes - superheroes, militarism, mutant superpowers, apocalyptic alien evil, sentient robots - are still around today, although sometimes with more of a dystopian slant than was usual back then. And with much better visual FX. It's not so much that retrofuturism is a thing, it's more that neither SF nor tech ever really outgrew it. There's been no shockingly unexpected and mind-expanding culture of neo-futurism to replace it. (Yet.)

sprash 6y ago

If you like Syd Mead check out Klaus Bürgle. To me he nails the Futurism genre like nobody else. Here[1] are some "Space" pictures starting as early as the late 1940s. 1.: http://klausbuergle.de/buergle_weltraum1.htm http://klausbuergle.de/buergle_weltraum1.htm

sjsone 6y ago
Getting some Sovietwave vibes from this. Like: https://open.spotify.com/track/7lrNwcY54nhgmMbPtTcx9A https://open.spotify.com/track/7lrNwcY54nhgmMbPtTcx9A
LargoLasskhyfv 6y ago
HYPERLOOP! http://klausbuergle.de/images/buergle/750/Personenrohrpost_dnu84_1967.jpg http://klausbuergle.de/images/buergle/750/Personenrohrpost_d... edit: Personenrohrpost How fitting.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

airstrike 6y ago

Thanks for this. Here are some more easily downloadable images in case others also want to find a new wallpaper: https://wall.alphacoders.com/unregistered.php?id=6436 https://wall.alphacoders.com/unregistered.php?id=6436

fanatic2pope 6y ago

Makes me think of OMNI magazine.

cxr 6y ago

Simon Stålenhag does really great work that if not considered retro-futurism proper is something else that doesn't seem to have a name but certainly is at least in a space adjacent to retro-futurism. http://www.simonstalenhag.se/ http://www.simonstalenhag.se/

bpiche 6y ago
Cyberpunk or postcyberpunk if I you ask me
jacobush 6y ago
My fav
ccozan 6y ago
There is a full story behind that art. I love it. Thanks.
runeb 6y ago
Dystopian sci fi, maybe
chrbr 6y ago
This is great, thanks so much for linking this. Might have to buy a couple of prints.
jonnydubowsky 6y ago
Nathaniel Halpern (Legion) created an amazing adaptation of Stalenhag's artwork for Amazon. It's unlike anything I've ever seen and definitely worth a watch. https://www.engadget.com/amazon-tales-from-the-loop-simon-stalenhag-making-of-140005163 https://www.engadget.com/amazon-tales-from-the-loop-simon-st...

keyle 6y ago

Beautiful I came to post about this artist and you did it for me. His art is incredible.

black_puppydog 6y ago

Thank you for this, I did not know about Syd Mead, but just flipping through the images on that page it's clear how influential he was. Wikipedia lists pretty much exactly the associations I made: > Mead worked with major studios on the feature films: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Short Circuit, Aliens, The Spirit of '76, Timecop, Johnny Mnemonic, Mission: Impossible III, Elysium, Tomorrowland and Blade Runner 2049. George Lucas created the AT-AT for his Star Wars saga based on art by Mead. This is in no way to diminish his work, but the impression I got (and that I'm trying to confirm/debunk, given the wikipedia article doesn't really address this) is that his art really transposes the society of its time into the future. That is, he almost exclusively addresses the technological advancement, while keeping the societal structures largely intact. For example, that's why the retrofitted houses give the impression of still being inhabited largely by working class people, while the ski resort and leisure time imagery with the sports cars still seems to be a luxury only few can afford even in the future. I don't see signs of "fully automated luxury space communism" there. This may be me projecting though, hence the question if this is correct. And again, this is not to take away from his work. They are stunning. :)

sgift 6y ago
> That is, he almost exclusively addresses the technological advancement, while keeping the societal structures largely intact. Looks like it to me too. Which is probably far more realistic than all the "society will radically change thanks to technology" takes. In the last 70 years we've seen technological advances we couldn't have dreamed off yet society is in most parts still the same as it was back then. Sure, progress has been made, but not as much as many scifi writers hoped for.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  It depends what you mean by "progress." No one imagined Facebook and Twitter or even Microsoft and Apple. But also no one imagined gay rights and other progressive changes, or the general change in social register and emotional tone. What hasn't changed much is - ironically - movies and science fiction itself. All the old 50s tropes - superheroes, militarism, mutant superpowers, apocalyptic alien evil, sentient robots - are still around today, although sometimes with more of a dystopian slant than was usual back then. And with much better visual FX. It's not so much that retrofuturism is a thing, it's more that neither SF nor tech ever really outgrew it. There's been no shockingly unexpected and mind-expanding culture of neo-futurism to replace it. (Yet.)