Here's a rather late addition to my endless stream of Darkover fan art. It depicts in symbolic-architectural terms the re-imposition of technological colonialism on the settled world of Darkover. After Marion Zimmer Bradley's passing in 1999, fan enthusiasm for Darkover waned. I haven't done a Darkover picture in many many years. As I see it the whole culture of fandom has changed from a print and traditional media society to a video-driven world inhabited by pre-fabricated characters from movies, TV, and best sellers. Where is the "slow" "farm-to-table" movement in fandom, where a less frantic and more original-based culture can be cultivated? You can't buy it online, though you might be able to share it online. The fact that I was barely able to sell this picture for only a few dollars alerted me to these changes, just after the turn of Marion's millennium.
Mixed media (ink, watercolor, colored pencil) on blue paper, 10" x 7", November 2003.
A note to Claudia: Your insights about gaming as the inheritor to the men's fraternal orders is really worth making into an article for publication. These orders fascinate me, they are declining quickly in membership with mostly older members. One difference is that most of these orders were founded and continue with a charitable mission. They have banded together to do good works, whereas gamer groups don't usually have a charitable quality. If you could find such a thing (Warcrafters for hurricane relief!) that would also be very interesting.
1 comment:
I love this picture. As for fandom, it comes and goes. I was late coming to the Harry Potter series, and when I got online wanting to talk about it, all the posts were from long ago. Lois McMaster Bujold fandom seems healthy, but she's still alive and turning out books in the Vorkosigan universe--plus novellas in the World of Five Gods.
Concerning the fraternal orders and gamers, that would be interesting to look into further. Hard though--I don't even know any.
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