Retrofuturism Inspiration
Crazy Mad Modern World?
Do you feel that modern life is depressing you? Grinding you down? Do you see the wars, environmental disasters on television every night? While at the same time see people’s social skills disappearing into the rabbit hole of social media and think the world is “totally messed up”?
Well, I can see why you think and I do too at times. However, I also like to think we also live in an amazing era! Ever new technologies keep emerging while at the same time, the movement to retain our ecology through technological solutions gains more widespread acceptance. As well as this, we have the knowledge just by good eating and holistic exercise, we can increase our chances to “stay young” for a long time.
When I make art, I like to inspire those who experience it with the wonder of technology of the world we live in today and to also provide glimpses into the future. In some ways, my work and similar artwork will look “retrofuturistic” in twenty years time in the future. There are some projects I am working on right now that are retrofuturistic using FabLab and Makerspace technologies. Read on and remember to sign up to my newsletter at the bottom of this page for more updates on my latest art and knowledge sharing.
Remember to go to the bottom of this page to watch a video I made and also an interactive 3d preview of a retrofuturistic model I have recently made for a new art project.
What Is Retrofuturism?
The title of this blog post is “Retrofuturism Inspiration”, we can be inspired by visual artists who created visions of the future in decades past.
Retrofuturism Diagram
According to Wikipedia –
Tour Of The Universe
I am really inspired by retrofuturistic art from the past. Something about it makes me go “yeah!”.
My favourite is work from the 80s a great example of this is Tour Of The Universe book. Check it out if you haven’t seen it before. Back in that time, the futuristic images were cutting edge. Now, over time they have entered into the domain of retrofuturism.
Why do I like Retrofuturism?
I’m sure that there are many reasons for my love of this genre and I don’t think we should ever over-analyse our interests! Perhaps it is the nostalgia, retrofuturism reminds me of B movies on Friday night, Saturday matinee cinema and other films I watched in my room as a kid on my black and white TV in the late 1980s. Even then, television gave us glimpses of retrofuturism from the 1950s and 60s in the form of classic science fiction films as mentioned often broadcast here in the UK late on Friday and Saturday night. Of course there were also the Back To The Future Films. These films gave a unique angle on retrofuturism. Think about it!
Back To The Future
Its NOT Just Escapism!
lost in a world of science fiction
At art college my end of year third year report in applied design mentioned some words of this nature-
“James Is lost in a world of science fiction”
At that time, I was actually looking at architects such as Future Systems and how they looked to find solutions in buildings forms similar to those industrial design. The lecturer who decided to make this nice comment was clearly not into that! I studied applied design by the way and moved towards art later on.
Even if I were making purely speculative work such that found in retrofuturistic art, these were often a projection of how we live today. Escapism is more fantasy, science fiction and a lot of retrofuturism used visual imagery to project today’s society into the future to look at issues and possible solutions to these issues.
Retrofuturism – Creation Inspiration Video Blog
Check out this episode from my video blog where I look at retro-futurism as a source of inspiration…
My Artwork Inspired By Retrofuturism
I don’t like to stick to genres in my art so my work is not retrofuturist but it has elements inspired by it. I include retrofuturism in my work because I try to show the positive side of the progress of technology and this genre is largely optimistic. I also just “like it” and for that I can offer no real explanation!
Here are some links to some of my work that includes retrofuturistic styles and influences…
Homage to Expo67 work, you can buy prints of this. I made this artwork to have a feel of vintage colours and design. It was a homage to Expo 67 in Montreal. You can buy prints of it on my online shop too.
My Amazon book “How To Design Cities Of The Imagination” In this book I show you how to design a retro-futuristic city using Blender, the free 3d animation software.
An old 3d animated film I made in 2004, “Structures Like The Leaves” with its imagery and storyline, I would again say it is definitely retorfuturistic.
More to come! I am currently making a new project inspired by world Expos using FabLab and Makerspace technologies Watch this space and sign up to my newsletter for more updates about this and my other art too. Meanwhile, here is an interactive 3d robot in a retro futuristic style that forms part of the artwork –
ROBOT
by jamesfuture3d
on Sketchfab
Retrofuturism Resources – Makes Me Go “Yeah!”
There is so much retro-futurism for you to “mine” for your inspiration your creative ideas and projects, here are just a few that come to mind right now…
Fallout 4 Computer Game – I havent played this game but I watched some YouTube clips , I played Fallout 3. Stylistically, I think this post appocalyptic game is a classic that rises above most other computer games. Definitely check out the retro futuristic style.
Sci Fi Art there are lots of similar slideshow videos on YouTube like this one that show a great collection of Retrofuturistic art from book covers etc.
Retro New Wave / Timecop1983 – Retro New Wave music is gaining popularity on the internet. Timecop1983 makes great tunes, check them out along with other bands in the genre. A perfect score for your retrofuturistic visions!
Retrofuturism Wikipedia – page has lots of information and links.
My Amazon book “How To Design Cities Of The Imagination” I show you how to create a retrofuturistic science fiction city in the 3d application Blender.
Let me know any other recommendations you can think of at info@jamesabellart.com and I will include any I feel that are appropriate.
