Space Cactus


This project started with two drawings of a cactus growing out of a block of frozen earth floating aimlessly in space. The drawings weren't meant to 'mean' anything other than a general feeling of serene and stress-free existence unconcerned with space or time.



After the first two drawings, I started calling this 'character' Space Cactus, as if it's a comic book superhero. I thought wouldn't it be cool for there to be superhero that literally did nothing: it didn't move or think, but rather simply existed; and wouldn't it be cooler if despite this static existence, it nevertheless played a (major) role in the events that happened around it. We could say that Space Cactus is an 'actor' (a player, participant, contributor...etc to its world) without 'acting' anything.

Usually, comic book characters, even when they are not human, act or display emotions typical of human beings. They could be robots with humanoid bodies or aliens that feel love. Alternatively, the idea of Space Cactus is to imagine a protagonist of a comic book that is neither human nor human-like: it is just a cactus. Conceived as such, we could say that Space Cactus is born out of a post-humanist outlook.

Below is a 'sketch' (I am not a great comic book artist!) of the first installment of Space Cactus titled "Not All Heroes Have A Pulse". As you will see, humans do partake in the action, but they are almost always peripheral, both graphically and story-wise. On the other hand, other types of beings play important roles such as an asteroid, a small rock, and of course Space Cactus. There is also a small cute lizard, but it doesn't do anything as far as I know.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

أشجار أخرى


هي شجرة عرفت خطورة الاعتماد على أرض واحدة، فبنت لها أخرى.

جذور قوم عند قوم جذوع.  

تسكن هذه الشجرة أوراق طائفية، ترفض كلّ طائفة من الأوراق أنْ تلامس الطوائف الأخرى. تحصل هذه المهزلة في نور الشمس، بينما الجذور تعمل بهمة في الخفاء.

احتار الناس بقصة هذا الشجرة، أهي شجيرات قرّرت أنْ تتّحد أم شجرة قرّرت أنْ تتفرّع.

العالم كما سيكون في المستقبل: شجرة بعد شجرة بعد شجرة، ولا أثر للبشر. شجرة بعد شجرة بعد شجرة، ولا ترى إنساناً واحداً. شجرة بعد شجرة بعد شجرة، فقد ولّوا أولئك المفسدين.


شجرتان

الشجرة الأم

الشجرة الباحثة