Christopher Payne’s photographs are a sort of urban archaeology that digs down not through sand or sediment, but through the layers of our forgetfulness. Because these remarkable industrial monuments are still there. They’re just ignored.

Some of these subway power substations are still in use, rebuilt and equipped with more modern equipment; while many, which make for the most interesting pictures, are abandoned. Those photographs are dreadfully still and fascinating - peeling paint, drifts of debris, and pools of standing water frame the massive power converters and banks of switches and gauges in these innocuous buildings, sprinkled throughout the city.

A power substation received power from one or more powerhouses through massive underground cables. The power converters look like gigantic turbines. Their function was to spin, powered by the incoming AC current, and by spinning generate the DC current that powered the subway.

Payne’s book includes period photographs of manned substations, several shots of the exteriors of these buildings, which blend into their setting and are largely ignored, and - best of all, for me - the photographs of these lost installations with their titanic machinery in decay. The pictures make wonderful reference, which was my reason for getting the book, but they’re beautiful and interesting in their own right. I’m a sucker for early 20th century technology and machinery, of course. But I don’t think you need to be, to be moved by the neglect and decay of these immense machines that once were the embodiment of our progress and hope for the future. Technorati Tags: new york, subway, photography, machine age, industrial design, retro, vintage, power, electrical, machinery, technology

I like the way Greg Brotherton thinks. His online gallery shows us demented retro-futuristic devices like the Electrolux Death Ray, the Sunbeam Heat Ray, and the Hydraulic Robo-Slab; just the sort of equipment I need for the Secret Laboratory.

Do not, on any account, miss the Electrolux Death Ray commercial. You will definitely not want to be the last on your block to own one of these babies.

And of course in addition to the household appliances there are some fascinating robotic sculptures like the Minitron, an insectoid robotic minotaur. Honestly, that’s a phrase I never thought I’d use.

Anyway, these are about as close as I’m likely to get to the mad scientist appliance I really need - the Omnidirectional Disintegrating Weed Eater. Though one can hope.

Technorati Tags: mad scientist, retro, vintage, steampunk, science fiction, sculpture, robot, ray gun, death ray

I mentioned earlier that “The Retrovert” was the first commercial site I hosted on a domain of my own. This came about in early 2003, when I was between jobs, as we say, and had some time on my hands.

I was pleased with the way “Celtic Art & Retro-Futuristic Design” was working out for me - if you missed it, that was my first commercial shop on the web, where I sell two kinds of art that I love making - and it was natural enough to think about what else I might do. That turned out to be the Retrovert.

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“Homeless” is an interesting animated short film by Eduardo Suazo; if you’re used to brief, frenetically paced animations you’ll probably hate it, but it’s well worth your time.

It’s technically proficient but it does raise the question of why, if this were the film you wanted to make, you’d animate it rather than shooting it in live action. The few (though important) effects in the film could as easily be done in either case. I guess when it comes down to it, the answer is that if you’re an animator, you use the tools you have. Anyhow, those musings aside, an interesting piece.

Swept up from 3D Total.

Technorati Tags: animation, short film, 3d graphics, homeless, computer graphics

Short on story but big on photo-realistic gonzo-ism, “Mega Robot Returns” is a test piece from Kaktus Films in Sweden.

Possibly an answer to that age-old question: “Why don’t those nuclear dinosaurs and invading alien cyborgs ever smash Stockholm?”

But I’m still left wondering what, exactly, happened to the dog.

Discovered at 3D Total.

Technorati Tags: robot, cgi, computer graphics, animation, stockholm