Fast Foward : The Future Is Now at Museum Center in Fullerton, Where Young Optimism, Aging Cynicism Give Alternative Visions

You know the old saw about the optimist and the pessimist? Looking at the same partly filled glass of water, the optimist--young, hopeful, brimming with naivete --says it’s half full. The pessimist--usually a sophisticate who has been around the block a time or two--says it’s half empty.

Two future-themed exhibits running concurrently through Sunday at the Fullerton Museum Center bring that to mind. “Looking Forward,” a traveling show presented by New York’s American Institute of Graphic Arts, takes the more sobering view toward tomorrow; “Document: Orange County, Part 3,” a hodgepodge of art by local schoolchildren, is unabashedly upbeat.

“Looking Forward” is a slick collection of professionally produced graphic-art pieces, ranging from posters promoting rock bands and peace programs to magazine and newspaper illustrations. The juried, 69-piece exhibit was drawn from 1,500 pieces submitted by graphic artists across the country. It began in October at the AIGA Gallery in New York and is touring schools, institute chapters and the occasional museum, according to the institute’s coordinator, Nathan Gluck.

The jury chairman for the show was Marshall Arisman, a New York illustrator whose work has appeared on the cover of Time magazine. In the competition’s call for entries, Arisman wrote that graphic artists must often “visualize a positive or negative aspect of ‘progress’ in all its manifestations.”

The purpose of the exhibit, he continued, is “to present the creative community’s vision of things to come.”

In several instances, that vision is a harsh one.

Under the headline “To Remember Is Not Enough . . . ,” a poster for the American Foundation for AIDS Research by New York’s Rafal Olbinski presents endless rows of ghostly white candles, their flames snuffed out. Rising above each, a thin wisp of smoke forms a human profile that dissipates into oblivion.

In a poster for the Shoshin Society, a group of graphic designers committed to world peace, Art Paul of Chicago created an image of impending doom in “War Kills the Sun,” which pictures an eclipsed sun against a murky black background.

Guarded optimism is seen in “Connections: Robotic,” a poster by Tom Geismer, in which the viewer is asked to consider whether man, with all his foibles, will ultimately be edged out by the infallible robot. Wrapped around a portrait of a robot, the text reassures us that “common sense can be programmed in, but not a sense of whimsy.”

Whimsy--dressed in black--appears in a illustration by San Francisco artist Dugald Stermer. With tongue in cheek, Stermer sketched the ideal stroller for tomorrow’s safety-conscious tot: the “Omar C. Bradley Multi-Purpose All-Terrain Strolling Vehicle.”

It’s a rough-and-ready little number featuring all-terrain tank treads, laser-reflection shield and a “retractable, self-sterilizing teether tether.” No need to choose pink or blue on this model, mom. It only comes in camouflage-green.

Meanwhile, in “Document Orange County, Part 3,” the outlook from the next generation is generally rosy.

This art by county grade-school students completes a partnership between the museum and the community to trace the evolution of the county through various media, according to the museum director, Joe Felz.

Curated by artist Naida Osline, each segment featured photography, art, videos, text and interactive displays, much of it supplied by the public. The segments illustrate county statistics on a range of topics. Part 1 focused on environment and economy, Part 2 on contemporary life styles and rituals.

For Part 3, museum staff members sent statistical information to local schools. Based on these facts, kindergartners through high schoolers took part in classroom discussions, then speculated on the county’s future in drawings, computer graphics, collages and other works.

In the next century, these young seers predict that robots will replace dogs as man’s best friend, beachfront housing will take on a new twist and designer jet packs will be de rigueur .

And if the environment goes to pot, well, what the heck. There’s sure to be a brave new world just around the corner. Just ask Kerri Devonald, a fifth-grader at Fullerton’s Raymond Elementary School, where students used computer graphics to illustrate their thoughts.

“The world will explode before the year 2489, so everything will be up in the air,” wrote Devonald in the caption for “Space Age Spectacular,” which features a high-flying town of jet-propelled houses and floating stoplights.

“Our cities will be flying cities,” he wrote. “Instead of riding bikes, kids will have to use jet packs to get to and from school.”

Robots will pose no threat to the next generation, predicted Jenny Wong, a fourth-grader at Fullerton’s Commonwealth Elementary School. Robots will be imaginative and get you out of a lot of pesky chores.

Wong wrote: “I think life will be more simpler than life is right now. . . . Robots will do almost everything a person can do today--such as washing the dishes, making beds, sewing--with just a command.

“Schools will be better too. Even the teachers will have a robot to give them ideas for her or his class.”

Clogged freeways getting you down? In the future, students said, transportation woes will be passe. Anything that now creeps on the ground will take to the skies or the sea. Cars, trains and buses will sprout wings. The Queen Mary will become a submarine.

Short on time? One imaginative student suggests “The Mover,” a snappy model that will speed you to any destination dialed into its memory bank.

And for that busy family on the go, there’s a dinner table equipped with jet engines--a push of a button and mom, dad and the kids are whisked off to the movies before the dishes are in the sink.

Given the county’s demand for housing, second-graders at Anaheim’s Lord Baden-Powell Elementary School predict that tomorrow’s land-poor will head to sea. Office buildings and schools will be built on platforms high above the waves; families will set up housekeeping in watertight bubbles on the ocean’s floor. (Can’t you just see the want ads? “For sale: 3BR, 2 BA, 360 Ocean VW. No Leaks.”)

In conjunction with “Looking Forward” and “Document Orange County, Part 3,” the Fullerton Museum Center will screen “Things to Come,” a science fiction film based on the story by H.G. Wells, on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $3 at the door. On July 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., a panel of experts in the fields of technology, education, health and urban planning will lead a seminar entitled “Meeting Urban Needs in the 21st Century.” The $10 ticket includes lunch and the panel discussion. Reservations are recommended.

The exhibits, originally scheduled to run through July 30, will close a week early, Felz said, to accommodate extra time needed to prepare the museum’s next exhibit, “The Grand Generations,” a touring exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution that will run Aug. 12 to Sept. 10.

“Looking Forward,” an exhibit by the American Institute of Graphic Artists, and “Document: Orange County, Part 3” continue through Sunday at the Fullerton Museum Center, 301 N. Pomona Ave., in downtown Fullerton. Museum hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for students and senior citizens. Admission is free for children under 12, and for all visitors from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays. For information, call (714) 738-6545.