If digital artist Alex Varanese had a time machine, he'd go back to 1977 with a suitcase full of modern electronics and make zillions. Plus, the cheeky print campaign for Varanese's wood-paneled laptops and cellphones guarantees consumers that he's not a time-traveler!

Varanese's series — ALT/1977: WE ARE NOT TIME TRAVELERS — is an experiment in totally unethical, cross-chronal entrepreneurship. Here's Varanese's rationale for shanghaiing these devices back to the past:

What would you do if you could travel back in time? [....I'd] grab all the modern technology I could find, take it to the late 70's, superficially redesign it all to blend in, start a consumer electronics company to unleash it upon the world, then sit back as I rake in billions, trillions, or even millions of dollars. I've explored that idea in this series by re-imagining four common products from 2010 as if they were designed in 1977: an mp3 player, a laptop, a mobile phone and a handheld video game system. I then created a series of fictitious but stylistically accurate print ads to market them, as well as a handful of abstract posters (you know, just for funsies).


If I had a time machine, I'd do the exact same thing, but bring back slightly more outmoded technology to punish the past for screwing up the present. I'd be like, "Hey past! Here's a garbage bag full of Laserdiscs, Virtual Boys, and Zunes! This is what you get for being so backwards."

[Via Alex Varanese. Thanks to Subhasish for the tip!]


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