The Concept of Retro Futurism; Where Art Meets Technology

From the 90's spy movies to today's Marvel and DC comics, the use of technology seems to reassemble the old concept of science fiction and it all comes to thinking about the unthinkable. These stories and movies show instances of technology that are futuristic but also have resemblances with the currently existing set of techs. This is where the concept of Retro Futurism comes to play.

Retro Futurism is the name of an art movement that inspires artists to create designs of futuristic technologies with elements from today's world. For example, imagine an Impala car that has a mini bomb launching system as well as being capable of turning itself into a plane. The design of such a car with futuristic technology will be an example of Retro Futurism.

Retro Futurism can be classified in two ways like the future as seen from the past and the past as seen from the future. In the first type, Retro Futurism is directly inspired by the imagined future which existed in the minds of writers, artists, and filmmakers in the pre-1960 period. In the second type, futuristic retro starts with the retro appeal of old styles of art, clothing, mores, and then grafts modern or futuristic technologies onto it, creating a combination of past, present, and future elements.

One of the most popular instances of retrofuturism at present is seen in the art of Simon Stålenhag, a Swedish artist whose retro-futuristic designs can be seen in the famous TV series "Loop".