Mass: The Art of John Harris. Text by Ron Tiner
01/06/2003 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 

pub: Paper Tiger. 112 page hardback. Price: £20 - although can be found cheaper. ISBN: 1-85585-831-2.

Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK.

check out website(s): www.papertiger.co.uk

You know how it is. You're told a particular book is no longer available only to discover copies in a remainder shop.

A little foray to Bristol recently dug up this little treasure and if you live in the UK, you can probably find one in a remainder bookstore near you for all of £3.99, although I suspect that it can be found elsewhere in the world.

Mind you, after this little review, I expect a sell-out and Paper Tiger to consider a re-issue. John Harris is mostly a landscape painter.

Although a few of his more terrestrial views are on display here, what make this book stand out is his futuristic settings either on planet or asteroid platforms combined with advanced technology or spacecraft that are absolutely breath-taking to look at.

'Mass' is about size and scale and these settings are breath-takingly enormous and nothing to do with Catholicism.

Quite the reverse in fact as Harris spent five years with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who entertained the Beatles for a period, and got his inner peace such that it reflects in his paintings.

As commented in Ron Tiner's text, Harris doesn't have to visit a terrestrial place to paint it but can still get its essence on canvas.

In the trade, this kind of ability is viewed as getting the 'truth' of an image rather than what is there. It would be interesting to see if Harris could capture a similar essence with people but I suspect that isn't the reason he gets commissions from book publishers and NASA.

If you haven't got this book in your SF collection already, then it's worth looking around for a copy and hope you strike as lucky as me in finding one.

GF Willmetts