Untitled

We’ve landed in a funky, futuristic landscape with Art Deco buildings on a barren plain. But the buildings seem remarkably short, and they lack windows and doors. Are we just looking at the tops of structures that have been submerged in smog or water? The buildings are labeled Hubris, Motel, and Kos[her?] Diner. Below the image, in the foreground, rising over the horizon, and floating in the air very official-looking rubber stamps, all of which are illegible. They seem to have great authority, but we can’t understand them. In contrast to what seems an earthly dystopia, the sky is bright and full of wispy clouds. Saul Steinberg made this drawing in 1969, a period of violence and strife in America and beyond [think Vietnam War and the protests against it], a period also punctuated by moments of great optimism, such as Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon.