Space colony “Project Astoria: test 01” lands at Brandstater Gallery

“Project Astoria: test 01” is on display Sun., Nov. 9 through Thurs., Dec. 11 with an artist’s reception on Nov. 9 from 6 – 8 p.m. The series of composite photographs in vibrant hues portray the daily lives of teenagers who have grown up on a moon outpost of the fictional Astoria system colonized during the 1960s. 

The visual story picks up 15 years after colonization as Earth has largely abandoned the utopian space settlement. “The images follow the teens as they explore and grow in their decaying world, more familiar to them than Earth could ever be,” says Baxter.

The backgrounds for the photographs were shot in Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Colorado, and Guam. Individual objects were shot in museums and in studio, and photographs of models were all taken in studio. Baxter combined the elements using Adobe Photoshop photo editing software.

“Future photo installations, featuring the rest of the colonies, will tell the story of our young heroes as they navigate the tangled world of adolescence only to be thrust into adulthood at the very moment Project Astoria is coming undone,” Baxter said.

Baxter’s inspiration for Project Astoria derives from childhood memories and experiences, and the influences of his father and grandfather, both of who worked as engineers for the U.S. space program.

His grandfather told him stories about his engineering work on a project in the Nevada deserts. “They designed and built nuclear rockets meant to send manned missions to Mars. They met and even exceeded their goals but the program was shut down shortly after the first moon landing,” Baxter said.

When Baxter was 5 or 6 years old, he visited the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. where he saw mannequin astronauts posed inside a Skylab replica, one eating food in a kitchenette, another sleeping vertically while gently strapped into a bed. His father had worked on the Skylab project which served as the first U.S. space station.

“I clearly remember these frozen moments that embraced both the mundane and the magical,” said Baxter. “It seemed to me that humanity was on the edge of a utopia of technology and futuristic living. I had this sense of all the possibilities for the future, and they were really, really cool. 

What I didn’t realize was that world – that utopian potential – would fade in the coming decades,” he said.

Baxter and his family lived in the Washington D.C. area until he was 8 years old, then moved to New Mexico. He studied fine art at the University of New Mexico, then taught in New Mexico, Oman and Budapest for five years. He then moved to Chicago where he worked several years in advertising as a designer and art director before launching his own photography business. He now lives in Los Angeles and divides his time between commercial and fine art photography.

For further information about “Project Astoria: test 01” at Brandstater Gallery call 951-785-2170. Gallery hours are Mon. – Thurs., noon – 7 p.m.