Walter Crane was a versatile artist of the pre and post 1900 era, with a style of art that lived in the arts and crafts movement and worked backwards from there. In other words, his work was beautiful, but not modern in any way.
So it's a surprise to see this little cartoon sketch of his that shows the 'man of the future', a button presser that looks to me like a portrait of a blogger and/or tumblr guy plugged into his fancies.
Amazingly insightful! From the keyboard addiction to the Tim Burtonesque revival of the Mad-Hatter fashions, nearly everything he predicted was proved true. Next step: the bio-engineered limbs?
This is what I feel like sometimes, in female form. I love the outdoors, and I am too often "plugged in," rather than being outside in the weather. Hmm.. what to do about it? And this was 1900!
On the other hand, the image looks nothing like the Walter Crane art I've become familiar with, and I do owe that bit of knowledge to being "plugged in." So there is some benefit to utilizing the internet to absorb and internalize what we couldn't possibly experience first hand by reading all the books and visiting every museum.
Amazingly insightful! From the keyboard addiction to the Tim Burtonesque revival of the Mad-Hatter fashions, nearly everything he predicted was proved true. Next step: the bio-engineered limbs?
ReplyDeleteHi Thom,
ReplyDeleteThis is what I feel like sometimes, in female form. I love the outdoors, and I am too often "plugged in," rather than being outside in the weather. Hmm.. what to do about it? And this was 1900!
On the other hand, the image looks nothing like the Walter Crane art I've become familiar with, and I do owe that bit of knowledge to being "plugged in." So there is some benefit to utilizing the internet to absorb and internalize what we couldn't possibly experience first hand by reading all the books and visiting every museum.