Buck Rogers has a lot to answer for...

The late seventies TV series, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century provides me with clues to my love of 'cinematic space'.  Watching it as a 9 year old child, I used to completely engage with it's plot and dazzling visual spectacle.  I was Buck Rogers every week and enjoyed all the spoils that he was entitled to as star of the show (read into that what you will).  Being my own personal, personality 'terra-former' - I learned my ethical standards from him, my moral code was informed by his (often dubious) actions - It's no wonder I had strange ideas as a teenager as to the role of men in society. I had a kind of 'Surrogate Oedipal' relationship with the stars of the show - maybe I wasn't the protagonist, maybe I saw Buck Rogers and Wilma Dearing as parents, maybe that explains my childhood crush on Erin Gray or should I say, Queen Jocasta?

The poor quality screen grab below is taken form the Star Fighter launch sequence.  It's a beautiful neon lit scene and the virtual movement was undoubtedly created inside a scale model set, (Special effects were a childhood obsession too).  Whilst watching Buck Rogers I would construct my own space ship models from LEGO (not even looking at my hands whilst I did it) - not only were my visual and aural senses sated, but my haptic abilities were honed and informed by the illusion of real space and the shape and position of things within that environment.  To my 'mind' I physically occupied the world beyond the barrier of the television set - I had a 'presence' there and that space now has a presence in me.
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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Illuminating Inner Space...

Surround Sounds - Sounds Surround

Here's a short sample of my sound and vision experiments.  Think films like 'Fantastic Voyage' (1966), Eraserhead (1977) and 'Alien' (1979) and you'll see their influence.  The soundtrack is more immersive with earphones and the sense of foreboding is increased. g.

"In Praise of the Sci-Fi Corridor"

I though it was just me that had a penchant for the corridors found in Sci-Fi movie environments.  Martin Anderson at 'Den of Geek' has written a rather comprehensive listing of these intriguing spaces. The connections with my own work are obvious.  I have spent a lot of imaginary time in these worlds - it intrigues me to know...why?

2001 A Space Odyssey - 1968

 Alien - 1979

Moon - 2009

“In Praise  of the Sci-Fi Corridor”

Continuing to Make Connections

Coalbrookdale by Night. 1801 Philip James de Loutherbourg 

Vesuvius from Portici. Circa 1774-1776 Joseph Wright of Derby

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 1852 John Martin 

Grotto in the Gulf of Salerno. Circa 1774 Joseph Wright of Derby

Untitled. 2013 Gregory Dunn

Connections...

Innermations...

Been busy in the basement.  Moving between the frames of an animation program - focusing my visual research upon an imaginary, internal landscape and the effect of light upon it's surfaces. Here is just one example.  I've also been experimenting with sound to increase the immersive effect of the imagery.