We've featured Cédric Delsaux's mashups of Star Wars figures against urban settings in the past, but here he focuses particularly on Dubai. While many of Delsaux's photographs juxtapose Star Wars extraordinary visuals against a more gritty urban reality, the Dubai series is actually meant to show how utterly consonant Dubai's setting is with these science fiction elements. It invites us to ask whether the Dubai, for all its faults, is a truly modern city moving into the future, or a piece of urban planning fiction, every bit as contrived as the planets and space stations we see in the movies.

The Dark Lens — The Dubai Invasion [The Empty Quarter]

If you need to transport yourself to a world of spice, heat, and massive mining equipment, you'll want to visit Project Sand, and check out all the designers there. I've chosen a sampling of worm-oriented images because obviously worms are the coolest things ever.

By Jordan Lamarre

By AJ Trahan

By Jordan Lamarre

By AJ Trahan

By Wo"Dzgn

Wigram had Watkiss, who has provided artwork for Deadman, Sandman, and Conan, to bring his action comics style to Sherlock Holmes. Wigram wanted to create a visual pamphlet so that studio execs understood the sort of story he wanted to tell. Although some outlets have erroneously reported that Wigram and Watkiss collaborated on a comic, Wigram did have Watkiss illustrate the story, sans text. This series of illustrations then served as a key component of Watkiss' pitch.

The illustrations are currently on display and available fore sale at Nucleus Studios in Alhambra, California.

The Art of the Motion Picture: Sherlock Holmes [Nucleus Gallery via The Hollywood Reporter]

This is a selection of art created by concept designer Koshime, who works with Opus Artz and has posted a lot of amazing work on Gorilla Artfare.

These photos are from Becka's Transmutations series, which was exhibited at Dubai's Empty Quarter Gallery this past fall. You can see more images from this series on Becka's website, and he has collected the photos and their waxed paper negatives in book form.

Transmutations [Martin Becka via CNN via William Gibson]

CBS News has some new concept art and behind-the-scenes photos, and here are our favorites. Gilliam talked to CBS about the genesis of the movie's storyline, about a magic mirror behind which your imagination is tested — and if you fail, you lose your soul to Tom Waits' Devil. Apparently, the story comes from the sour reaction to Gilliam's previous film, Tideland, which made Gilliam want to make a movie about "the notion of a storyteller whose stories didn't have an audience," as CBS puts it.

Apparently the movie's biggest challenge was that tall, thin wagon, which couldn't fit under London bridges. Says Gilliam's daughter Amy, "That wagon was the bane of our lives."

Both Gilliams also talk about the shock of Heath Ledger's death, and the challenge of replacing him — as well as the unexpected richness the three replacement actors — Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law — added to the film. Instead of being labeled as a Terry Gilliam film, the finished product bears the sobriquet "A Film By Heath Ledger And Friends." The whole article is worth checking out. [CBS News]

Rael Lyra [deviantART via FFFFOUND!]

PeiPei
The Ronin
Flea
Sentry
The Rich Cousin

Lessons to be learned from seeing these posters all together in one place:

(1) The Eyes Have It. Apparently, it's unsettling to have giant eyes looking out at you. Who knew?

(2) Wherever Possible, Have As Much Red And Black. Blood and darkness. Who said the old classics don't work today?

(3) In The 1980s, Glowing Things Were Scary. Okay, this one, we can't help you with.

Evolution of Horror Movie Posters 1922-2009 [HongKiat]

These were taken by photographer David Tribby, who has a sharp eye for images that turn decay into lovely transformation. Tribby has also collected these pictures and many more into a book called Gary Indiana: A City's Ruins. Or check out his photostream on Flickr.

Bathhouse, Gary, Indiana

Church Room, Methodist Church, Gary, Indiana

Classroom, Gary, Indiana

Freight Depot, Gary, Indiana

Gilroy Stadium, Gary, Indiana

Methodist Church, Gary, Indiana

Empty Room, Methodist Church, Gary, Indiana

Post Office, Gary, Indiana

Caleb Paullus' Super Not Super is a series of brief photo comics exploring the not-so-superheroic trials and tribulations of caped crusaders. Batman finds even he is not immune to the economic meltdown, the Flash fails at physical intimacy, and Catwoman unwinds with a little *ahem* catnip. Sadly, Wonder Woman and Supergirl couldn't be given anything more interesting to do than household chores.

You can read the full comics at Super Not Super.

[via Geekologie]

Several readers pointed us to the artwork featured in Gallery 1988's Lost Underground Art Show that premiered Tuesday night. Shown alongside the sixteen posters we showed you yesterday, these works exhibit a distinct artistic preference for the polar bear, the Smoke Monster, the four-toed statue, and the inherent weirdness of Lost.

[The LOST Underground Art Show]

Ben Strawn
"The Number 108"
Custom vinyl by Pocketwookie
Scott Campbell
"LOST Showdowns (1)"
Carlos Ramos
"DHARMA Science Manual Volume: 4"
Chris Ryniak
"Circle Of Ash"
Dan Lydersen
"Memento Mori"
Danielle Buerli
"Freckles"
Mark Bodnar
"Oh Smoke Monster"
Ralph Cosentino
"Make Your Own Kind Of Music"

Jeff McMillan
"Season 3, And So It Goes" (Triptych)
Lauren Gregg
"Charlie"
Mark Brown
"In A Big White Hare"
Misha (from the mind of Paul Scheer)
"Jack Is A Wolf Howling At The Moon, And The Moon Is The Face Of Locke"
Julian Callos
"No Man Is An Island"
Custom vinyl by Scribe
Leontine Greenberg
"Smokey In Disguise"
Danielle Buerli
"The Dharma Bear"

Stan Mott [via Dark Roasted Blend]

[Josh Keyes via Nerdcore]

Shoer writes:

With the advent of superluminal travel, each species soon discovered the network of Channels traversing the galaxy, allowing near-instantaeous travel from Channel Anchor to Channel Anchor. The giant artifacts spoke of a precursor civilization - but where are they now? Their ruins, gargantuan structures on planetary scales, float dead in the Burial Grounds or the Sea of Relics, but no explorers have ever located their ruins on a planet. The only unexplored portions of the galaxy seem uninhabitable: the vast Far Reaches, and the irradiated Cathedral at the galactic core...

Sounds like a smashing setup for a novel to me.

via Joseph Shoer

The show, Under The Influence: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe will show at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles, will run from January 8th through the 29th. But several of the participating artists have already posted their contributions to the show.

Many of these are via Super Punch.

He-Man - The Bad and the Ugly by Alex Fugazi
He-Man - The Good by Alex Fugazi
Stinkor by Brennan Kelly
The Creeping Hordak by Brennan Kelly
Skeletor Atop a Throne of Skulls by Keith Noordzy
Trimming the Bowl Cut by Kiersten Essenpreis
Skeletor Gets a Root Canal by Kiersten Essenpreis
Greyskull by Jeff Boyles
Just kidding at Castle Greyskull by Alessandra Fusi
The rest of the Pricess of Power by Alessandra Fusi
Beastman Garbage Pail Kid by Layron DeJarnette
Battlecat by Bill Carman
Cringer by Bill Carman

[Ads of the World via Super Punch]

Chances are, if you've looked at a weirdshistic record cover by Yes, Asia or other bands, you've admired Roger Dean's paintings of surreal landscapes. If you've ever seen all good people turn their heads each day, then you're already a Dean fan.

Connor Freff Cochran, founder of Conlan Press (which is busy putting out a bunch of Peter S. Beagle books, hosting Beagle's 52/50 poetry subscription service, and putting out art books) contacted us and suggested that Avatar's lush moon might have gained some inspiration from Dean. And when you look at Dean's artwork and compare it to the concept art we posted the other day, it's hard not to see the resemblance.

All of this makes me want to rent Avatar (when it's released on DVD) and see if I can sync it up with YesSongs.

Coolvibe describes this as "lost and forgotten" concept art (although we've seen a couple of these before) from The Matrix from various concept artists, including Richard Mahon and George Hull. Check out more images at Coolvibe.

Lost concept art from The Matrix [Coolvibe]

Man-Made Disasters is currently on display at the San Francisco arm of Gallery 1988 as part of the Paper Pushers show.

Paper Pushers 2009 [via NOTCOT]