Mariko Mori: Oneness

The trouble with living beyond puberty is that you have the feeling you've seen most of it before. Take this sculpture or installation or set design by Japanese artist Mariko Mori, who's building an international reputation with her innovative works. To me it's a combination of the flying saucer from The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) and "Buster" Crabbe's old spaceship in which he flitted about the planet Mongo while struggling to defeat Ming The Merciless. Cigarette smoke used to curl from its rocket tubes to represent their exhaust streams. (Those were the days of special effects!) Mori's model is nicely done, very nostalgic, but hardly original. Note: the forgotten artist who penned the Flash Gordon comic strip was Alex Raymond.