In my last blog, I looked at Apocalyptic Space Art involving large celestial bodies in the process of dying or exploding. The theme of most of the images this week is “death of civilization”. Desolate cityscapes, future ruins, starships leaving among the debris of decay.
It is a sombre exodus, not a hopeful one. One wonders if there is any place left in the universe where these travelers could find a better life? Time has a way of running out on us. What is left, are the empty shells of past civilizations floating through space, dead cities and dark worlds.
The artists whose images I have picked for this blog, as it turns out, are with only one exception European: from France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Slovakia. A morbid fascination with decay and hopelessness has ever been a part of this culture. It is so very much not a New World thing!
As to Asia, I suppose their belief in the circularity of time would make those end-time visions a rather alien concept to them. Ragnarök is a Germanic myth – and it seems these cultural roots continue to be relevant and manifest themselves, time and again, in unexpected ways.
All images are copyright the respective artists, and may not be reproduced without permission.
