I was astounded by the middle book of Cixin Liu’s “Three Body Problem”: “The Dark Forest”. The novel weaves together tales of the varied efforts by humanity to thwart the invasion of alien species. The aliens’ planet is such a brutal place to live that they see the Earth as an appealing paradise populated by a technologically inferior species. While the Trisolarians have space travel, they do not have subterfuge or game theory, and humanity is able to gain footing in a war of wills because the scientists who invited the forthcoming disaster left a critical clue to a man who has little more than an opaque, unprepossessing personality and obscure cleverness as weapons. So, what to do when under the thrall of such a story? My initial response was to capture something of the mood of the story on paper. The drawings use a lot of charcoal from the fireplace, as well as small illustrations of specific events in the story.
Wallfacer, 2022, 18×24 inches pencil, pastel, charcoal, chalk on paper
Firefly, 2022 14×17 inches pencil, pastel, charcoal, chalk on paper
Game Theory, 2022, 14×17 inches pencil, pastel, charcoal, chalk on paper
Luo Ji’s Transmission, 2022, 14×17 inches pencil, pastel, charcoal, chalk on paper
The Dark Forest, 2021, 14×17 inches pencil, pastel, charcoal, chalk on paper