Tonight is the official launch party for issue 09 of Amelia's Magazine which is to be held at the brand spanking new PURE GROOVES SHOP IN FARRINGDON! 6-7 West Smithfield, London EC1A 9JX
In order to show her support for upcoming artists, Amelia will be offering a sneak preview of the illustrations showcased in this issue. There is also the opportunity to order limited edition art prints at a discounted price!
So come along and help us celebrate, view some great art, listen to the sounds of TOKYO POLICE CLUB and O FRACAS who, I must add, will be playing live throughout the night!
There can't possibly be a better way to spend an evening than in the company of the Amelia's Magazine crew x
A Positive Future - by Amelia
When I was little I was obsessed with a book called Future Cities (The World of the Future) published in 1979. Looking back at the predictions therein it is interesting to see what they got right, even if the graphics on the home computers that would certainly fill every home feature cute Pacman styles instead of slick Mac graphics. Alongside more fantastical ideas such as space cities and towns on the moon, (where the 2020 Olympics were anticipated to be held!) the book also foresaw two very different possible futures – one where green cities support locally sustainable populations not disimilar to those towns envisaged by today’s modern Transition Towns movement, versus the polluted hellholes of a “dying world”. And for me the big question now is which way are we heading?
This book really fired my imagination as a child, something which I remember vividly to this day. Tempted as always onto Google to do a bit of research, I found this comment, from someone on Amazon: “I read the Chinese version of this book when I was a kid. For a children’s book, it’s surprisingly insightful. It’s also interesting to see how some of the preditions in the book have come true. The illustrations are great too. I find this book pretty inspiring even for an adult and I highly recommend it especially if you like sci-fi.” So it is clearly not just me.
We are intrinsically drawn to aesthetic beauty and art and creativity in all their forms are essential to human happiness... I love beauty – it is the reason why I produce my magazine and why people want to look at it. And this is where the role of illustrators and designers comes in – we could be the most amazing force for instigating change, because done well design can become all invasive and inspiring – a stimulus for a better way of life, where family, friendship, freedom, community and shared experiences are prized more highly than the possession of any kind of material goods.
Most communication about ecologically sound practices and speculations of what we need to do to alter the future of earth focus either on alarmist doomsday scenarios or the nebulous idea that small actions can make a big difference and technology will take care of the rest... but humans need experiences that stimulate positive thoughts to avoid becoming paralysed with fear; visions of a better future, a future where people have come to their own conclusions that to live sustainably in communities is actually a much better and more fulfilling way to live.
Of course noone can really know what our lives will be like in the next decade or two, but one thing is certain, things will be different. They have to be. What we desperately need are visions of a Positive Future... for it is ultimately in our hands to decide whether our future cities look like the “polluted cities of a dying world” or a “garden cities on a cared-for planet.” All this needs to happen soon because a shift in global consciousness needs to come before the double tipping points of climate change and peak oil send us into a spiral of unstoppable chaos, so let’s fire our collective imaginations and dream our way into the reality of a better world...
an original version of the article can be found here:
