the first science fiction museum and hall of fame is due to open it’s doors in a little over a month in seattle washington. its a great idea, and the list of advisors is really pretty impressive, assuming they are actually doing some advising. all that’s left to see is how it gets executed.

best case scenario it is an enveloping, sophisticated love letter to all things futurist; allowing you to walk through alternate worlds and possible futures, feeling first hand the scope and otherness great science fiction can invoke. letting you explore the ideas and managing to highlight unexpected contrasts and comparisons between the many different visions. worst case scenario, it is the hard rock cafe with ray guns and security guards dressed like robbie the robot. it really could go either way. impossible to tell until the doors open.

reading the list of exhibits makes it sound potentially best case scenario. reading the artifact highlights, however, sends the pendulum in the other direction for me. i guess it’s the museum part of the title which opens possibilities in my mind while the hall of fame part makes me nervous. i mean i can’t imagine shlepping all the way to seattle just to see a first edition assimov book and kirk’s captain chair.

the web site offers a section of concept art which has peaked my interest a bit. some fun stuff. but again, concept drawings do not necessarily a successful project make. most sci-fi movies are ample proof of that. 

the museum is co-founded by paul allen who also co-founded microsoft, an association i’ll try not to hold against him. that tie would seem to insure that there will be plenty of money to help bring the place to life. which is a fact that can’t be understated. there is nothing worse than a dingy, yellowing, shoddy monument to the human spirit of exploration, as anyone who has visited the smithsonian national air and space museum can attest to. it was one of the most depressing places i think i have ever been. it was such a disappointment, to see all that amazing history in such a poorly thought out, poorly kept, poorly lit, poorly funded place. it was a graveyard for decommissioned vessels with a few poster-board and foam “exhibits” laid on top to dress up the bodies. very sad. i think we can safely assume this museum of fictional space exploration will be much better funded and it’s artifacts from fictional missions will be more lovingly cared for. sigh.

i know plenty of people are of the opinion that the museum can’t possibly do any of the material it seeks to celebrate justice. that by and large fiberglass set pieces and molded latex mannequins can not compete with the places and characters you’ve envisioned in your imagination, no matter how many randomly blinking lights and darting animitronic eyes are peppered throughout. and that’s true enough. but in my opinion this place does not need to faithfully recreate anything to be successful. it just needs to treat its subject matter with affection and respect. if so, i might actually make the trip to check it out.

in any case, there a few oldish articles out there on the subject which might interest you.
wired:// paying homage to science fiction, seattle weekly: future cred, huston chronicle: count down, seattle pi: rocket scientist, and, well, conen o’brien chimes in too. the end.