Introduction: In 1972, the legendary musician, composer and mystic Sun Ra (1914-1993) was hard at work scripting and acting in the now classic documentary on his life and work, Space is the Place, as well as publishing his second book of poetry. The book of poems (now extremely rare) was designed and edited by Ra’s manager, who asked one of Ra’s band members in the Arkestra–the drummer and percussionist Ayé Aton–to contribute images to accompany Ra’s poems. The final publication contained three photographs of Aton’s indoor, space-themed murals.

Published here for the first time, the full set of photographs forms an incredible and revelatory body of work, and is presented here alongside a cache of never-before-seen contemporaneous photographs taken on the set of Space Is the Place in Oakland, featuring Ra in full regalia, wearing outrageous Egyptian costumes borrowed from a local masonic temple. These spectacular photographs–unseen artifacts from a now remote time–offer us a special and often entertaining behind-the-scenes glimpse of a much-missed musical visionary.

This once-lost trove of photographs date from 1972, a pivotal year for the musician, composer and mystic Sun Ra. Half of the photos in this book are of interior, space-themed murals made by Ra-colleague and musician Ayé Aton — spectacularly weird and beautiful in their 1970s supersaturated color. From the same period, a cache of never-published photographs taken on location in Oakland for the film Space is the Place, features Ra in full regalia, wearing outrageous and beautiful Egyptian costumes. A rare glimpse behind the scenes of the architect of Afrofuturism.

Sun Ra + Ayé Aton: Space, Interiors and Exteriors, 1972 poate fi comandat de aici; editată de John Corbett, cu un cuvânt înainte de John Corbett.

Eşti la vârsta la care, când auzi de afrofuturism, exclami, mamă, ce chestie!

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