As reported on Wired.
BY HUGH HART
Paranoia Blooms in “White Tulips”
Inspiration: Professor Alistair Peck in Episode 218 experiments on his own body to convert himself into a time machine so he can travel back in time to see his fiancée.
Artist: Anthony Petrie
Time Travel Stacks Up “The Plateau”
Inspiration: In Episode 303, a pedestrian gets run over by a bus, nearly duplicating events of another accident the day before. Olivia finds a ballpoint pen at the scene. The discovery of ballpoint pen by a bystander created a sequence of chain reactions that led to the victim’s death..
Artist: Mark Englert
“The Earthling”: Ashes to Ashes
Inspiration: In Episode 206, The Fringe Division tackles a case in which victims disintegrate into ash.
Artist: Dave Quiggle
From a Nosebleed to a Beast in “The Transformation”
Inspiration: On an airplane in flight in In Episode 113, scientist Marshall Bowman gets a nosebleed and tries to warn the crew that he needs to be sedated. Then he goes into the bathroom, transforms into a beast and goes berserk.
Artist: Ghoulish Gary Pullin
Butterflies Attack “The Dreamscape”
Inspiration: Massive Dynamic employee Mark Young jumps out a window after getting cut to pieces by killer butterflies in Episode 109.
Artist: Graham Erwin
Fringe Group Portrait
Inspiration: Fringe cast members may have gotten killed off with unsettling frequency but they somehow still gathered together for this imaginary group portrait.
Artist: Joshua Budich
“Beyond the Fringe” Spin-Off
Inspiration: DC Comics‘ 12-chapter comic book series imagined alternate timelines that theoretically unfolded between the end of Season 3, when hero Peter (Joshua Jackson) vanishes into God knows where, and the start of Season 4.
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Image courtesy DC Comics
Wanted: Olivia Dunham
Inspiration: This poster imagines the potential mugshot of FBI Agent of Olivia Dunham. In the future ruled by alien Observers, she’s wanted for being a member of “The Resistance.”
Artist: Warner Bros. Television
Image courtesy WBShop
Bishops Rule “Everything is Not What It Seems”
Inspiration: The last name of three key Fringe characters gave British artist Jonathan Ginn the idea for this graphic. Ginn told Wired, “My main inspiration came from the idea of there being three Bishops in the show: Walter Bishop, Walternate Bishop and Peter Bishop. I mostly considered that Walternate, being ruthless and calculating, is the black one, with Walter as white, and Peter somewhere in the middle.”
Artist: Jonathan Ginn
Image courtesy Jonathan Ginn
Strange Observers Spook “The Arrival”
Inspiration: Philippine artist Andrea Cervantes created several dozen Fringe-themed art pieces when she learned the series might get canceled. On her bergunagirl Tumblr blog, Cervantes writes “I wanted to invite more people to watch it!” “The Arrival” takes its cue from Episode 401 focused on the dimension-hopping men in hats known as The Observers.
Artist: Andrea Cervantes
Image courtesy Andrea Cervantes
When Fringe fans got the chance to crowd-curate a new art show devoted to Fox’s sci-fi series, they had a lot of weirdness to pick from. The show, which begins the three-episode run up to its Jan. 18 series finale on Friday, tackled a bizarre spectrum of paranormal crimes, routinely shredding network drama conventions in the process.
For Gallery 1988‘s Fringe Benefits exhibition, which opened Wednesday night in Los Angeles, co-creator J.J. Abrams and his team asked viewers to judge 31 episodes. The top six vote-getters served as inspiration for artist/fans who put their own spin on the assignment.
Limited-edition screen prints of the artworks can be purchased online at Fringe Benefits Project.com. Proceeds go toward The Mission Continues, which awards community service fellowships to post-9/11 veterans.
Gallery 1988 owner/curator Jensen Karp says “We’re always looking for TV shows or movies that elicit the same type of passion our artists have for their personal artwork. Much like Breaking Bad, another show we worked on, Fringe warrants super fandom. We’re happy to show the creators and writers who created this universe what their work has inspired.”
Exhibition artist Mark Englert explains his devotion to the Fringe cause: “Most shows have big moments from time to time, usually during a premiere or a finale. Fringe has one of those moments every single episode.”
In the gallery above, check out Fringe Benefit artworks along with other Fringe-inspired poster art. Images courtesy Gallery 1988 except where noted.