I know that there are some artsy books showcased here. I’ve got one that I think’s worth sharing. It’s Simon Stålenhag’s The Electric State.
I was trying to describe the way that Stålenhag’s artwork makes me feel, but I think Jason Sheehan’s NPR book review does an excellent job portraying the surreal mood that it brings.
The stories crawl into my brain and mess with my memory of history, time and place. His art (photorealistic, washed out, laced in neon or icicles, nostalgic and futuristic both at the same time) gets into my eyes and stays there. For a while, I can’t trust anything. I see his world in the shapes all around me. Stålenhag’s two earlier art books ( Tales From The Loop and Things From The Flood ) exist for me, in a very real way, like an alternate history of a place I’ve never been, but miss like a second home. They are artifacts recovered from a dream of 1980’s and 90’s Sweden, of a pastel suburban past littered with robots, spaceships and dinosaur bones.
Here are a couple of previews of the type of work he does.
I love the creepy vibes that a lot of his work puts off. Perhaps this smiling monster thing, with it’s army of drones exemplifies his style more than anything. Oh, and that’s certainly a Toyota Previa getting crushed. My friends mom had that van!
It kind of feels like something out of Ready Player One, right?
If you’re interested in more of his artwork, I’d encourage you to check out his website and Twitter feed.