Work Text:
Cronos Museum of Art
Journey Across the Universe: Galactic Colonial Perspectives
Founded in the mid-21st century, the NwThai colony embraced an agrarian aesthetic that formed in direct reaction to the Scientific Metallist movement popular on Phailinsiam between 2040-2060.
NwThai artists modeled their work after organic compounds, creating functional art objects that interacted with their environments in mimicry of living organisms. These objects extended from habitats and transportation to artificial intelligence, and were frequently designed to reflect a utopian ideal of farming life.
Common synthetic materials used in NwThai art include simulated wood, flowers, shell, horn, leather, and bone, along with cultivated organic compounds.
The NwThai colony was evacuated at the turn of the 23rd century, when solar storms rendered it uninhabitable.
1. NwThai Artist, Unknown
Faux Vine Ring
NwThai Colony, ca. 2081-2083
Simulated Domestic Wood, Cultivated Synthetic Organic Compounds, Aluminum Wire
Cronos Museum of Art, Phailinsiam, The Yellow Leaf Foundation Collection of Colonial Art and Artifacts, Promised Gift of Mrs. J. Slosar (2144.1092)
The creator of this ring used simulated organic materials to form a naturalistic spiral circle. The shape is rough and uneven, demonstrating basic unskilled craftsmanship in a deliberate rejection of Scientific Metallist aesthetic symmetry and production techniques. The twisted vines form a double-helix, perhaps referencing the DNA structure of organic life.
This ring may have been intended as an art piece rather than practical jewelry, as its pristine condition indicates that it was likely never worn.
2. Central Systems Artist, MetaMod Art Group
Tetrataenite Ring
Phailinsiam, 2078
Tetrataenite
Cronos Museum of Art, Phailinsiam, The Yellow Leaf Foundation Collection of Colonial Art and Artifacts, Promised Gift of Mrs. J. Slosar (2144.1057)
This tetrataenite ring was manufactured on Phailinsiam, and reflects the simple, practical design common to the Scientific Metallists.
This style of ring is typical of a marriage contract, and the smooth, discolored interior of the band indicates an extended or frequently-renewed contract. The provenance of this ring suggests it was owned and worn by the contracted spouse of an astronaut who settled on the colony planet.
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From: Sunshine
To: Ghost
What a gift, to have art historians proclaim the origin and context for cultures that existed centuries before they were born. Where would we be without the wisdom of academic orators who can’t personally remember any of the things they write about? I'm so glad we have their biased reinterpretation to educate us.
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From: Ghost
To: Sunshine
Maybe they’re the only ones to see it clearly after all.