befriending spectres

I've been collecting spaces for years, so some of these photos are somewhat old and some are very new. While they might all look very different, there are common themes binding them together - my interests in science fiction and urban decay, in imaginary futures, in the old and cherished, in the breaking down of things and the potential for making things anew out of wreckage.  space 1: submarine interior This is the interior of the USS Blueback, a retired submarine that now lives at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland, OR., which I got to visit last June. Despite having been launched in 1959, this imagery feels futuristic to me, albeit in a nostalgic, retro, original Star Trek way. It comes with connotations of the idealized future Star Trek offers, in which humans and aliens work together in peace and harmony to travel the stars and gather knowledge, in which money no longer exists and everyone has access to what they need to thrive.  space 2: graffiti at pa...

I chose four objects for this project - one old and handcrafted, one newer and painted, one found in nature, and one found in a thrift store.  The first - a bottle cap necklace with an image of Death from Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (the film adaptation of the novel), coated in a protective film of nail polish. I made this necklace many years before Lawrence when I was less muscley, so sadly it no longer fits. I keep it around with the vague intention of someday switching out the string for a slightly longer one. It evokes some specific meanings that might not translate to others looking at it - for me, it evokes the sentimentality I inherited from my dad, the inability to let go of things because I'm afraid of missing them someday. It's a bit ratty, frayed, worn, all indications that it has been well loved. The second - a sliver of cardboard painted mostly dark green, with stripes of yellow, and blue eyes of various sizes floating over the top. I painted this piece of card...