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Bussard Ramjet

Bussard Ramjet is an artist’s book published in 2009 by Artis Den Bosch (Holland) and Artwords (UK). The book took its name from a theoretically feasible but as yet technically unrealizable proposal for a starship capable of relativistic speeds made by the physicist R.W. Bussard in 1960. As such, what can be described of Bussard’s star ship represents a necessarily incomplete figure of the technological sublime, its stupendous character inflicting ‘violence to the imagination’ in the manner of Kant’s Analytic in Critique of Judgement and simultaneously going beyond the current horizon of human capabilities. The book imagines two different people, both influenced by illustrations of Bussard’s starship, inhabiting different versions of the same day – 26 September 1983 – when, some historical accounts now suggest, the world came closest it has ever done to nuclear war. The text is accompanied by reproductions of painting/photograph montages showing, amongst other things, uninhabited reservoirs and structures in an abraded concrete landscape. The juxtapositions reflected my ongoing interest as an artist in the trope of the 'artist's impression' - an image that in some way maybe suspect or inadequate - and painting's illustrative function.

Although not a catalogue, Bussard Ramjet was published to coincide with a solo exhibition of my work at Artis den Bosch Holland 9 January – 14 February 2009, comprising site specific commissioned work and retrospective of previous work. The opening included a live performance by art band Die Kunst. The exhibition explored themes of landscape, alternative history and the science fiction imaginary. Framed original works that formed part of the illustrative content of the book were exhibited at Galerie Tatjana Pieters, Gent, in 2009.