Art in Science Fiction
sKIDj
that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be used
for making art pieces. I'm thinking along the lines of 'Orbital resonance'
by John Barnes where an Art piece is made that interacts with itself via
sound and light.
I know this is a vague question but it's something that interests me and
it's also quite hard to find anything, all my other examples are basically
materials, things like SlowGlass or whatever it is that T1000 is made of,
but any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Konrad Gaertner
>
> Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction Stories
> that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be used
> for making art pieces.
Isaac Asimov: "Light Verse", "Eyes Do More Than See", "Dreaming is a
Private Thing"
Larry Niven: "Grendel"
Adlus Huxley: _Brave New World_
This isn't science fiction (or even speculative fiction, despite
what the publisher may claim), but I have to reccommend Steven
Brust's _The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars_.
--KG
Richard H. Araujo
news:bbsskb$8jr$1...@titan.btinternet.com:
I think J.G. Ballard had a short story with crystal flowers that somehow
slowed time down.
--
Yrs,
Richard H. Araujo
"Restrictive trade practices impede not only the flow of goods and
services but also the exchange of information and the transmission of
values that occur with free markets. When market exchange opportunities
are curtailed, government power grows, with adverse effects on human
liberty."
James A Dorn, Cato Institute
David Silberstein
sKIDj <sk...@softhome.net> wrote:
>Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction Stories
>that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be used
>for making art pieces. I'm thinking along the lines of 'Orbital resonance'
>by John Barnes where an Art piece is made that interacts with itself via
>sound and light.
Not sure if it's what you're thinking of, but "...And Now the News" &
"Slow Sculpture", both sort stories by Theodore Sturgeon, involve Art.
Bujold's "The Spirit Ring" touches on the formation of certain art
pieces of the Renaissance, with magic added.
Spider Robinson's "Stardance", besides being about dance (duh), also
has a character who creates what might be termed "zero-g kinetic art"
using light and liquids of various types.
Norman Spinrad's short story, "A Thing of Beauty", is about defunct
architecture as art.
While not being primarily about painting, Steven Brust's "The Phoenix
Guards" and Barry Hughart's "The Story of the Stone" have some pages
about that particular art.
A couple more short stories: Samuel Delany's "Omegahelm", & Stephen
Donaldson's "Unworthy of the Angel", both sort-of about sculpture.
I was just recently forwarded the link for the Honda commercial "Cog":
Car parts as kinetic art.
http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/honda-ad.html
Fun.
Conrad Hodson
> Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction Stories
> that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be used
> for making art pieces. I'm thinking along the lines of 'Orbital resonance'
> by John Barnes where an Art piece is made that interacts with itself via
> sound and light.
Well, Jack Vance's novel _Wyst_ is about a painter who moves to a
utopian-experiment planet because the light is so special there. And you
could argue that his _The Face_ involves an art project on a truly
monumental scale.
Larry Niven's _Protector_ includes some fun examples of art forms based on
fine-scale control of generated gravity.
Conrad Hodson
Joseph Nebus
>Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction Stories
>that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be used
>for making art pieces. I'm thinking along the lines of 'Orbital resonance'
>by John Barnes where an Art piece is made that interacts with itself via
>sound and light.
James Blish edited an anthology, "New Dreams This Morning," which
is entirely science fiction stories about the creation of art. His
"A Work of Art" is of course included; there are also quite a few more,
including a nastily funny piece about drawing comic books. It may be
hard finding, but it's worth it.
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Georg Scherer
> I think J.G. Ballard had a short story with crystal flowers that somehow
> slowed time down.
J.G. Ballard: "The Garden of Time"
Georg Scherer
> I think J.G. Ballard had a short story with crystal flowers that somehow
> slowed time down.
J.G. Ballard: "The Garden of Time"
Rick Kleffel
Alexander Jablokov's 'Carve the Sky' had a very remarkable and
excellent use of art and artists in a space-oriented future. It's his
best book and definitely worth looking for. From the Amazon Booklist
review:
"The sudden appearance of a new work of art by a sculptor thought to
be dead sparks a race across the galaxy in search of a mysterious
brotherhood and a rare metal, with humanity's fate in the balance. Set
in a far future of high technology and Byzantine politics, this
multilayered first novel of sf intrigue is recommended for most sf
collections."
That pretty much matches my memory.
Thanks,
Rick Kleffel
http://trashotron.com/agony
Elf M. Sternberg
> Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction Stories
> that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be used
> for making art pieces. I'm thinking along the lines of 'Orbital resonance'
> by John Barnes where an Art piece is made that interacts with itself via
> sound and light.
In Joan Slonczewski's "Brain Plague," the main character is an
artist who creates installations with oil paints and holography. Her
work looks "a little weird" to humans but is a big seller with a
genetically enhanced line of humans because she, like the GE folks, is a
tetrachromat, able to see down into the infrared. Apparently this is a
real and very rare human condition, recessive on the X chromosome
meaning only women get it.
The heroine becomes host to a colony of conglomerate nanotech
entity that specializes in architecture, and her artistic talents become
less important as the book progresses. It's a sprawling book with some
serious head-scratching moments: her people have High Beyond-level
nanotechnology and "soup kitchens run by nuns."
Elf
Samuel Jahaza Howard
sculptor, and a poet.
Orson Scott Card's _Capitol_ includes a story about a painter, which may
or may not be included in the later volume _The_Worthington_Saga_
Sam Howard
John M. Gamble
Conrad Hodson <con...@efn.org> wrote:
>On Sat, 7 Jun 2003, sKIDj wrote:
>
>> Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction Stories
>> that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be used
>> for making art pieces. I'm thinking along the lines of 'Orbital resonance'
>> by John Barnes where an Art piece is made that interacts with itself via
>> sound and light.
>
>Well, Jack Vance's novel _Wyst_ is about a painter who moves to a
>utopian-experiment planet because the light is so special there. And you
So was Biggle's novel *The Light That Never Was*, although what really
drew attention amongst all the mediocre artists was the artwork of
*spoiler*.
The protagonist of William Rotsler's *To the Land of the Electric Angel*
is an artist of some talent, and he discusses some interesting ideas near
the end. Unfortunately, in between is a story of competing, fanatical
religions.
--
-john
February 28 1997: Last day libraries could order catalogue cards
from the Library of Congress.
John M. Gamble
Ah, and i've just remembered Silverberg's *The Second Trip*, which
features the works of a artist that has a great effect on the psyche
of the protagonist (for very *spoiler* reasons). The artwork could
be described nowadays as a sort of sculpture++, which has to be
kept in its own room to more easily control the special effects.
Silverberg did a very good job of describing the process as i recall.
Peter Morris
"Konrad Gaertner" <kgae...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:3EE242B4...@worldnet.att.net...
> sKIDj wrote:
> >
> > Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction
Stories
> > that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be
used
> > for making art pieces.
>
> Isaac Asimov: "Light Verse",
Is that the one about the little old lady who murders a robotics engineer?
I was trying to remember the title.
Nancy Lebovitz
In Heinlein's _I Will Fear No Evil_, Eunice's husband is a painter.
--
Nancy Lebovitz na...@netaxs.com www.nancybuttons.com
Now, with bumper stickers
Using your turn signal is not "giving information to the enemy"
Michael Grosberg
You can find such characters in almost any William Gibson book. I'd
recommend Count Zero (boxes with various ready made objects inside
them - based on a real life artist I think) and Mona Lisa Overdrive
(guy who builds giant robots as art).
Joey Butler
Not really about materials, and not really SFnal except that it takes
place on another planet, but I likied "A Delicate Shade of Kipney" by
Nancy Kress.
An Earth colony ship crash-landed on a planet that supports life but
is decidedly unlike Earth in many ways. The protagonist, a teen, is
born some
time after the crash and has no first-hand knowledge of earth. He
paints, and his art is suited to the planet - there's nearly always a
fog or mist and the planet's ecosystem displays a color palette very
muted in comparison to earth. The boy is appalled by the garishness
of the art brought from earth by his grandfather.
Pleasure,
Joey
--
Konrad Gaertner
>
> "Konrad Gaertner" <kgae...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
> news:3EE242B4...@worldnet.att.net...
> > sKIDj wrote:
> > >
> > > Not sure if anyone can help me but i'm looking for Science Fiction
> Stories
> > > that have a charecter that makes Art pieces or materiels that could be
> used
> > > for making art pieces.
> >
> > Isaac Asimov: "Light Verse",
>
> Is that the one about the little old lady who murders a robotics engineer?
> I was trying to remember the title.
Yes.
--KG
William Baird
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned it yet.
_The Mote In God's Eye_ has a whole art museum. It's really
not that alien. However, it has a special place in the book.
Will
--
William P Baird Do you know why the road less traveled by
Speaking for me has so few explorers? Normally, there
Home: anzha@hotmail is something big, mean, with very sharp
Work: wbaird@nersc teeth - and quite the appetite! - waiting
Add .com/.gov somewhere along its dark and twisty bends.
Daphne Brinkerhoff
> Not really about materials, and not really SFnal except that it takes
> place on another planet, but I likied "A Delicate Shade of Kipney" by
> Nancy Kress.
>
> An Earth colony ship crash-landed on a planet that supports life but
> is decidedly unlike Earth in many ways. The protagonist, a teen, is
> born some
> time after the crash and has no first-hand knowledge of earth. He
> paints, and his art is suited to the planet - there's nearly always a
> fog or mist and the planet's ecosystem displays a color palette very
> muted in comparison to earth. The boy is appalled by the garishness
> of the art brought from earth by his grandfather.
This sounds a *lot* like a LeGuin story. I'm blanking on the title,
though Google suggests it may be "The Eye Altering" from _The Compass
Rose_.
In that one, there was a subplot: Rachel shouldn't marry the boy
because of his "visual impairment". It all works out in the end.
--
Daphne
Hop David
William Baird wrote:
> "sKIDj" <sk...@softhome.net> wrote in message
>
> I'm surprised that no one has mentioned it yet.
>
> _The Mote In God's Eye_ has a whole art museum. It's really
> not that alien. However, it has a special place in the book.
>
As I recall it was more a storehouse of knowledge to help them rebuild
their civilization (they'd nuke themselves back to the stone age on a
regular basis). So it's purpose was more to instruct than provide
aesthetic enjoyment.
Joey Butler
Also, as I've just read it, I'll contribute "Seeker of the Sphinx" by
Arthur C. Clarke. The story is not really about art, but the main
character is a painter/sculptor and near the end there is a brief
discussion of what makes
"real" art, what inspiration is necesary, what the artist's range of
life-experience has to do with it, etc. A late 3rd millenium mural
(ancient, 4000-5000 years old, at the time of the story) is regarded
as excellent primitive art, and the work of the protagonist - a young
man, never been to space - has potential in "thirty, maybe twenty
years" IF he takes in the wonders of space.
Of course, this is part a bigger theme about making decisions and life
in general. It's brief but very intriguing.
Joey