Link to the PDF (so you can make it bigger to read it):
Artist's Statement
For our
project we decided to build a world that had Nikola Tesla triumph over Thomas
Edison. Tesla was the leading inventor of electricity, which means that towers,
copper receivers, and wireless energy are the main influences of design and
lifestyle. We also decided to set our “present” in 1984, showing that
technology advanced faster and in different ways through Tesla’s inventions. Having
such a volatile energy source also creates a world that is balancing on the
edge of self-destruction with radical factions and anti-Tesla militant factions.
We wrote a newspaper spread because we thought it would give the best range of
politics, environment, and advertisements to showcase our world. We put a
terrorist threat piece, an environmental impact piece, a human interest piece,
and tastes of business advertisements and other stories in the issue.
I thought
changing this fact in history would be interesting because it would completely
change how technology and the modern world developed, since electricity is the
center point for all technological advances. We really drew upon this aspect of
the reading, “Throw out the disciplinary constraints one assumes under the regime
of fact and explore possible fictional logics and assumptions in order to
reconsider the present.” (Bleeker 6) We wanted to change a fact in history but
keep a line of logic through our alternate timeline. As much as we could we
kept to real science facts but took some liberties and made exaggerations with
our unstable world. It was fun to explore and experiment and settle on a world
that is feasible and links “imagination to its material form” (Bleeker 4) but
still fantastic.
For an
inspiration for world building, I really admire Brandon Sandersen’s ability to
effortlessly create a complex world that is easy to understand. Especially in
his Mistborn series, he creates a
very intricate magic system and political narrative that is still somehow easy
for the reader to dive into and understand. He’s an expert at creating
atmosphere which is something we wanted to achieve with our newspaper spread. We
also drew upon an article “Tesla’s Tower of Power” by Alan Bellows, which
outlines the history of Tesla’s experiments and his eventual bankruptcy.
This project
was really fun to do. I love thinking about the possible politics and design of
different worlds, and I’ve always been a fan of science fiction. However, it
was challenging and I now have even more respect for authors and filmmakers,
because so much backstory and research goes into design that will never be read
or seen.
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