Tuesday, 18 March 2014
New Rings
Consternation in the museum. Two rings of apparently 20th century design have now shown up, both made of decorative glass in a sub-Cubist style, one possibly dated "1923". This raises interesting questions about the provenance and purpose of all the previously recovered artefacts. Speculation is rife.
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12 comments:
Have you considered the possibility that the second ring was sent back in time by technologically advanced aesthetes of 2319?
I once read a Sci-fi short story about an advanced race of aliens who hunted humans by leaving lovingly-crafted art objects placed were they would be noticed, picked up, and fondled. The victim is so entranced by the beauty, they don't notice the looming danger....
Struan,
It seems my plans are more transparent than I'd thought... You anticipate me well -- too well, Earthling!
If that story exists, I'd be very glad to have more details -- can you remember anything more? I've never really been a sci-fi reader, so don't know the ground at all.
Mike
Apologies if this duplicates itself: I can't tell if my first attempt ended up in limbo or merely the doldrums.
I read a lot as a child. Particularly in Junior School, when homework wasn't too onerous and TV was bad or not allowed. When I found an author or genre I liked, I'd just read everything in the local library that seemed remotely similar.
So the parameter space is large. Short story, in a compilation, possibly by one of the big names, possibly by a nobody. Man goes to see acquaintance, notices understated but intriguing object, picks it up and finds himself stroking it. Just as hypnotism takes over the last bit of consciousness, friend explains he is of an alien race which makes the objects to capture prey.
I think the Gömböc has a similar origin, but it only seems to work on nerds, and they don't make for good eating.
Homework in junior school? It seems you may well be from another planet...
But, ah, a bibliographic quest! My favourite thing! I'll be back.
Mike
If it helps, it was probably Bishops Waltham library. Or Lossiemouth. Standard local county library selections in any case.
Your best bet would be to find an enthusiast forum.
I'd be interested to learn how much my memory has twisted things over the years. I have been re-reading some of the C19th novels which captivated me as a teenager, and with some of them, my memory is way off.
P.S. just had an interesting 5 mins looking up "Gömböc" -- I had thought this must be some beast from Lord of the Rings ("Look out, Frodo, it's ... the Gömböc!!").
Mathematicians, eh? Now they are *definitely* aliens amongst us.
Mike
See.....it's started.
These days, I'm more likely to go for a Höbnöb over a Gömböc.
Struan,
The story wasn't "The Hypnoglyph" by John Anthony (pseudonym of poet John Ciardi), was it? Sounds similar, but not identical, to your memory.
Mike
That was scarily fast.
I wasn't sure. It was surprisingly hard to find a synopsis of the story online, even given the odd neologism of the title. But then I found this:
http://muffinlabs.com/content/science-fiction-stories/
and the cover brought back instant recall. The light in the old village school converted to the local library. And the smell of the place, ink and old paper, and old chairs warmed by a touch too much central heating.
Thanks for finding the name for me. I'd love to know how you did it. I'll have to see if I can find a copy and compare with memory.
Some of my favourite pebbles come close to being hypnoglyphs, particularly the incredibly smooth siltstone ones. At least one sculptor seems to have been inspired too:
http://www.couradin-sculpture.com/index.php/en
Struan,
In the end, I am simply quite good at my job, though I do seem to have a knack for finding lost things (in this case, via Google)...
Mike
Respect
I do love reading French artists' statements (like that Couradin link)! They are written out of the same school of hyperbole as the typical French tourist leaflet -- totally beyond translation into English. Reading a few of those is almost as good as a weekend in Paris.
Mike
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