We're back, and with renewed purpose. First of many things is that I have finally updated and brought up to speed all current digital/online tools. It will be far easier for me to leave casual posts up when new things come up that I'd like to cover here.
Recent YouTube upload outlining a scheme to use a Bruder Toys "Astro Mini" lunar lander in one of my 4x4 inch space box paintings.
I have a second blog as well with which I cover my activities as a fine arts creator, correspondent and curator working independently in the always fascinating Central New York Arts Continuum. Which can mean pretty much anything and why I adopted the term to the regional exposure and involvement I've been pursuing more or less full-time since 2008. Most recently as the Artist in Residence and Curator for The Tech Garden, a startup incubator managed by Centerstate CEO shows for every period therein. Their events department closed in June 2020 during the pandemic and I had to help take care of my parents, but man what an opportunity, and responsibility.
Some of our shows had the artworks of up to 100 artists or more and we pursued what I call "Concept Shows", where artists would be invited to bring in works pertaining to a given theme usually related to pop culture. One was a theme show about David Bowie, another was liteally "Star Trek Vs. Star Wars". My favorite was the one I called Fun In Space about influences from pulp science fiction to rock and roll. The last show I produced for them was about Fish for January 2020, with the gallery stocked full of 136 fish artworks of all size or materials by artists ranging from 8 to 89. Might have been the best of them all, though I'm a science fiction geek and will always nod to Fun In Space.
Coverage of them is likely on the prior entries of the arts blog, and the most recent update concerning the work shown above can be found here.
This blog was given over to a newfound (2018) passion for collecting and making artworks with or about vintage plastic space toys c.1950 - 1980. It's posts are more about the culture of collecting such things including the minutea and drama that only such niche enthusiasts could get worked up over. So it seemed logical to pursue that kind of content on a separate outlet from the painting and gallery shows, and that's what this blog (or "this side" as I call it) is for. Geeks who like vintage space toys and how they might relate to pursuit of fine arts creation.
Another "Culture of Collection" upload focused on an unknown miniature diecast vehicle line produced in Japan early 1960s (?). Perfect size for the box paintings, would love to learn more about them.
I needed a name and thought about the kind of toy forms I was drawn to. Most are smallish, functional looking ground vehicles maybe with in-scale figures as an operating crew. Not military vehicles either but work vehicles or functional vehicles - Trucks, meant to be utilized for space borne activities. I also thought about my favorite science fiction influence, the film ALIEN from 1979, whose human cast is often referred to as "Truckers in Space", who operate Space Trucks.
Not flashy Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon hero types, in their swimsuit tights with capes, being all heroic and saving the day. Have a big parade & wave, right. My space heroes are the workaday slobs who man the machinery, maintain the rockets and end up being low man on the totem pole next time it's some guy's turn to go over the edge. They aren't heroes and don't want glory and often have some sort of quasi military role.
And get into trouble. Most of my astronauts are accident prone, known for locking their keys in the spacecraft, forgetting to make sure the handbreak on the Lunar Module is set right, or get into trouble with implacable alien administrators who are tired of all the racket. Some of our spacemen come to foul ends but most just sort of stand there wondering what just happened? as the guy they were just talking to gets sucked out of the airlock or something.
We also have fun. It's a mixed gender universe or mixed "whatever" universe, all are welcome and there's plenty of girls to keep the rocket jocks in their places. Usually standing there befuddled while she ejects the contaminated plutonium nodule or whatever, he was getting around it it. Upcoming is also the big Astronauts Ball on Regulus and we'll need to hook all the ladies from the collection up with an appropriate date including some of the robots. My won't that be fun.
Will try to cross-post between the blogs as things take place. One notion I have been after with this side here is cultivating new audiences for my artwork, which since it involves science fiction and ideas related to vintage space toys should be right up your alley. Will make sure each side gets to see what the other may be up to and be sure to click here to visit & subscribe to my YouTube channel, which is the social platform that I'm actually most comfortable with. They police it, and I am delighted.
email ideas, job offers or any unattached adult sister's phone numbers to
space.trucks1138 @ gmail.com
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