Spacebase2000

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"...The visual is oriented towards the display of elements and their relations...It might be thought that visual representations do not lend themselves to abstract thinking, or to teaching practices which move from the abstract to the concrete or vice-versa. That is not the case" (Kress, "English" at the Crossroads: Rethinking Curricula of Communication in the Context of the Turn to the Visual, from Passions, Pedagogies, and 21st Century Technologies, p76-77).

Organic Metal

This book was released in 1988. I would have been 14 or 15 when I first acquired it. I was fascinated with the futuristic images inside which depicted life in space. Cowley gave his books a 'documentary' feel, providing 'historical' accounts of space exploration, conflicts, and political and industrial milestones. Cowley even provides actual timelines of these fictional events. The art is what really caught my attention. Many of the illustrations fuse metal with organic and the colors are lively. The illustrations of battles are often violent. All illustrations pack a great amount of detail. Spacebase 2000 was a 'trade paperback'-esque version of two previous books. Their cover images are shown below.

The illustration to the left is one that commanded my attention from first glance. I found the details to be anotomical in nature. This is a prime example of how organic and synthetic were fused in many of the illustrations, giving the structures a living and breathing essence. There was a property dispute over it back in 2000. Apparently it had been used for the cover art of a book in the 50s. Oddly enough, the illustration fits seemlessly with the others throughout the series of books. Perhaps this was (consciously or subconsciously) the inspiration for cowley's other illustrations.