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Algorithm: Scott Listfield's new paintings of a wandering astronaut in an apocalyptic Silicon Valley

One of our favourite artists, Scott Listfield, is back. Featured previously for his intriguing pop culture paintings of an astronaut exploring a future apocalyptic Earth, his new series stars the same character but this time in a Silicon Valley devoid of humans and left to drones, robots and self-driving vehicles.

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Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of and copyright of Scott Listfield

Via Creative Boom submission. All images courtesy of and copyright of Scott Listfield

"We ride in self-driving cars, algorithms quietly cataloguing our movements and opinions," says Scott. "We hold a conversation with our watch, our refrigerator, or the glowing orb that lives in our house and orders toilet paper when we start to run out. A robot delivers us a fresh pizza in under half an hour. Elon Musk launched an electric car into space for no apparent reason, and there is an actual nutritional product called Soylent. What future is this that we have crafted for ourselves?"

Scott doesn't claim to know, but at the centre of all these observations lies San Francisco, the Bay Area and Silicon Valley. "It's where the future is never futuristic enough, and there's never an app that can't solve a problem you may not ever have had," adds Scott. "Will technology solve all of our problems? Can it hold the anchovies? What if we fail to see the forest for the trees, and at the end of it all, our poor pizza delivery robot is left alone, without either the pizza or the human consumers it needs to do its job. What if the technology is left but we are gone?"

Algorithm, Scott Listfield's latest series of paintings, is currently on show at San Francisco's Spoke Art Gallery until 23 June. Find out more about Scott at astronautdinosaur.com.

Astronaut in white suit stands on a desert plain gazing at a sunset with a pixelated digital cityscape overlaid on the sun against a purple sky
Astronaut in spacesuit standing before a sprawling cityscape under a blue sky, with a pink circular eye symbol and hatching pattern floating above
Astronaut viewed from behind looking over San Francisco skyline with translucent figure above and drone with geometric overlay, Transamerica Pyramid visible on right
Astronaut in spacesuit gazing up at a towering monument displaying a QR code, with colourful smoke trails streaking the sky above
Astronaut in white suit and helmet gazes upward at snow-capped mountains beneath a starry sky with a neon yellow hexagonal circuit board pattern overlaid above
Astronaut in spacesuit gazing at a glowing pizza-slice map pin hovering above a autonomous delivery robot on an alien landscape at dusk
Astronaut in white spacesuit standing on a desert highway facing a row of autonomous vehicles with smiling digital faces under a pink-streaked sky with palm trees
Astronaut in white spacesuit gazing upward at a neon-pink geometric arrow pattern streaking across the twilight sky above a dark Silicon Valley cityscape
Astronaut in white spacesuit gazes over a futuristic cityscape with a distinctive mountain peak, glowing sunset and geometric light patterns in the sky
An astronaut in a silver suit stands in a barren wasteland beside a crashed brown car, facing a partially destroyed apartment building with debris scattered around, beneath a gradient sky with pink and blue diagonal lines forming a frame shape
Astronaut in spacesuit standing before a circular brutalist building with geometric lines floating in the sky above, surrounded by reflective water and industrial structures
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