Art+Design
Experimental Work 2
A project on the idea of “alternate worlds” or “parallel worlds”…
This is a theme that has been explored in science fiction literature (e.g., The Man in the High Castle), and in television and film, but less so in art and design. In this project, we have images of objects from alternate worlds, carefully collected and curated. The concept, of course, is to explore the vagaries of history: how decisions and accidents shape our path through time.
A great company in Portland, Oregon — The Portland Stamp Company — recently did some print production for me on a piece for this project, and you can see, then, one of these "alternate world" objects on their Instagram site (https://www.instagram.com/p/CcZBu_fMiXC)... These are postage stamps from a world where the Brits were the first to land on the Moon!
Sample works from this “alternate worlds” series are shown below…
Item: British Moon Landing Postage Stamps
Origin: Alt-World 5677-3b
Catalogue No.: 5677-3b-12-2017-BMLPS
Description: In Alt-World 5677-3b, the British space program (a modernized British Interplanetary Society) were the first to land a man on the Moon, an event that took place in 1968. This commemorative stamp was issued the following year. In our world, it was the U.S. that first put astronauts on the Moon, but oddly enough, in Alt-World 5677-3b, there is no record of any such space program.
………………………………………………………………
Item: Ticket to a 2016 Beatles Concert
Origin: Alt-World 2372-6m
Catalogue No.: 2372-6m-04-2016-USA304M
Description: In our world, the Beatles broke up in 1969, and the members of the band each went on to separate careers. In our world, moreover, John Lennon tragically was killed in 1980, and George Harrison died in 2001 from cancer. In Alt-World 2372-6m, however, all the members of the Beatles survived well into the 2010's, and the band stayed together (with some solo career sidelines). This ticket is to a 2016 concert in New York.
………………………………………………………………
Item: Postcard from the Islas Malvinas
Origin: Alt-World 4771-8s
Catalogue No.: 4771-8s-11-1982-ARG210V
Description: This is a postcard postmarked "14 Nov. 1982", sent from Las Islas Malvinas, also known in our world as the Falkland Islands. In Alt-World 4771-8s, the Argentine invasion of the islands succeeded, and the British formally ceded the territory to government of Argentina on the 15th of June, 1982. On the back of the postcard is a text written — perhaps by a tourist — in Italian, and the addressee is also Italian.
………………………………………………………………
Item: Confederate States of America $100 note, 1996
Origin: Alt-World 5602-1a
Catalogue No.: 5602-1a-12-1996-CSA100X
Description: In Alt-World 5602-1a, through a complex series of military and economic events, the southern states seceded from the United States. Over the period from 1866 to 1886, the Confederate States of America (CSA) evolved into a completely separate nation, with a consolidated banking system, military, diplomatic corps, and so on. By the date of this bill (it is labeled “Series 1996”), the CSA was a modern state, although in 2017 it was undergoing an economic downturn and inflation. This bill was still in circulation that year. The purple color is the original printer’s color, to readily distinguish it from so-called “Yankee dollars” which in Alt-World 5602-1a are printed in green, like ours. The figure on the bill is Jefferson Davis, and the bill was issued by the “Confederate Bank of Atlanta”. An interesting highlight of this artifact is the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury at the lower right of the bill: it is that of “Babbette E. Lee”, a direct descendent of Robert E. Lee.
………………………………………………………………