This photograph of the play R.U.R. is courtesy of the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library of Lincoln Center and appears in the book Radical Robots.
See also:
The Robot is a Terrible Creature (1922)
The Mechanical Man of the Future (1928)
Recently discovered your blog, much to my pleasure. I've always been fascinated by historical futurism - it's a very useful window into the nature of the society of the time.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Gibson said something like - anyone who thinks science fiction is about the future is kidding himself - and I couldn't agree with him more.
Actually my interest in 'paleo-futurism' was spawned by his story 'The Gernsback Continuum'. Read it? If not you probably should.
cheers
sam
Sails of Oblivion
Hi Matt -- I've only recently found your blog but I immediately became a daily visitor and avid fan. I suppose I've been looking for the right moment to chime in with my praise and admiration for what you're doing, and the photo from RUR was my cue. RUR has absorbed a lot of my creative energy in the last decade -- I'm the author of a new adaptation of the classic play, which I'm happy to say is attracting a respectable amount of positive attention. Along the way I also had the great honor of being the Smithsonian's traveling scholar for my state when their exhibition "Yesterday's Tomorrows" went on the road -- an exhibit that should have been called 'paleo-future' because you've hit on a much classier name for the phenomenon. It's a rich treasure-trove you're mining, and you're doing it brilliantly. I hope you keep the blog going until we all have jet packs and our cities are under geodesic domes.
ReplyDeleteDo I detect shoulder cuffs?
ReplyDelete