spaceship earth
an unfolding journey aboard a little spaceship called Earth
small batch handmade edition, 18 books print run
The unwrapping journey
Spaceship Earth is a children’s picture book journey that unwraps like a gift; each layer of unfolding zooms into the universe and to the vibrant life on a little spaceship called Earth.
The book began in 2016, when I quit my job and was commissioned by a dear friend, George, to illustrate a poem he wrote for his kids.
Whereas most children’s books were a bit basic, we wanted to create something truly unique — something beautiful, inspiring, and carrying an important message about our place on the planet.
Why this book
If this book has any agenda (besides being an experimental art book), then its agenda is to help kids see their place of belonging to this planet - a small spaceship that travels through an infinite universe.
This spaceship is our home, in the same way that our house is our home, and our bodies, too, are our homes. The mirror at the end of the book brings us back to this feeling — to help kids feel that no matter how small we are, we are all a part of this universe.
the full text (by George Strakhov)
the stars are bright
the space is vast
but somewhere on its side
a small round spaceship travels fast
with all of us inside.
along a path that flies and spins,
packed full with all it needs.
it carries water, wind, and fire
living things, and seeds.
this sapceship holds so many homes
in deserts, forests, and seas.
there’s city roads with buzzing cars,
and gardens with buzzing bees.
there’s trees of green and clouds of white,
skies of black and blue.
there’s humans in our little tents,
that’s us! we live here too.
there’s plenty of work here for us
we are this spaceship’s crew
we need a lot more hands on deck
we’re looking for someone like you.
George’s writer notes: The "pale blue dot" scientific worldview often creates as a by-product a feeling of not having a proper place in the universe. Part of the motivation behind this poem was an attempt to bridge the gap between Sagan and John Donne, via the bridge that Fuller built.
A very very handmade, experimental book
This book is made from gouache paintings torn and collaged to form compositions, then overlaid with hand-drawn illustrations. I print each book from my home studio in New York, using a fine art printer and 250 gsm BFK Rives printmaking paper. Then, I cut and round the corners. I glue each copy by hand, package and ship it to you, wherever you are.
The evolution of the book
I started working on this book in 2016, when I was 24 years old and just quit a full time job to start my own creative business, hustling and figuring things out.
The book accompanied me over the next three years of my evolution as an artist and writer. I worked on it in spurts. I did several iterations. I buried it for months. I avoided George out of guilt.
Then, in 2019, I booked a trip to Amsterdam as a hard deadline, where I planned to stay with George and his family. Before the trip, I bought a fine art printer. Worked ten hour days for two weeks. On June 9th, 2019, I finally pushed this baby out of my creative womb. Now it’s ready to go in your hands.
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