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Rating: 
Summary: deceptively simple, accomplishes much with very little
Review: Bill Barker's artwork is incredibly simplistic to look at, it consists of just crisp black and white drawings, populated by stick figures, alien space ships, and wonderfull depictions of buildings and structures.The kit consists of many little toys, (stickers, key chains, instant savior, postcards), and a simple book of drawings. Although the book is the main attraction, the other items can be very creative, they complement the ideas of the artwork well. It's especially nice that they aren't just museum-style throw-a-popular-painting-on-a-postcard, the artwork fits in with the format it's presented on, it's this kind of thought that really goes a long way. The book has a healthy mixture of simplistic (and sometimes hypnotic) designs, and heavy imagery that manages to say a lot about life and the world with very little. There are a few activities to keep you busy, cutting out holes and such. The pages are mostly single sided, with a little bit of occasional explanation on the back. As for the content, it's a lot about life, a lot about the process of time and how we go through it. Many of his drawings depict time in unique ways, using rooms and factories to demonstrate it's flow. One of my favorite iamges is of an single factory that demonstrates a complete lifespan, complete with interesting news on life after death. Of course he also says a lot about alien culture, but not so much about the aliens (who are never seen, just felt through the presence their space crafts), but about the people around them, and how they react. The reason why I gave 4 stars and not 5? Barker is a good artist, and this is a thorougly unique package, but the art is certainly not legendary. It's very inspiring, and the presentation is impeccable, but putting this kit up against some books by some truely great artists, it doesn't hold. If you enjoy alternative artwork, and like the feeling of opening up a great gift, I highly recomend Schwa.
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