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Final Piece

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A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and seeing a better country, sets sail. Progress is the realisation of utopias.

Oscar Wilde

I have used this quote from Oscar Wilde in my work because I find it very strong. More than ever, we need to think about utopias. With all the crisis that we face nowadays (climate change, overpopulation, inequalities, etc), we have to find alternatives and bring solutions to fix this. Utopias shouldn’t be seen as an ‘end goal’ but as a process. A process that helps us find the right path to follow.

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Charlotte Prodger - BRIDGIT

I saw Charlotte Prodger’s piece, BRIDGIT, for the first time last year at the TATE for the Turner Prize competition. Her piece, and the way she made it, inspired me to make mine. The audio is central in her piece and plays a huge role. On the other hand, there isn't much happening on the screen and the shots are quite long. I’d say that the audio is definitely the most important aspect and sets the pace and the narration of the film. My work is built the same way. The viewers have to focus on the audio and it requires some imagination from them to apprehend what they see on the screen.

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The Beach - Danny Boyle

The Beach from Danny Boyle has always been one of my favourite film for the meaning that it holds. In the film, a small community of people find an island away from the consumerism and civilisation of western culture: a perfect utopian location. However, throughout the film, this little paradise turns into hell due to violence, egoism and rivalry. This film is a perfect example of how an utopia can quickly turn into a dystopia. I like the message behind the film that suggests that utopia is too complicate to exist due to contemporary people.

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The Day After - Nicolas Meyer

The Day After is a movie that I’ve watched because I heard a lot about it while doing research on dystopia. The film was made in the context of the Cold War where a nuclear war between the USA and the Soviet Union could have been possible. The film presents a dystopian America showing the effects that a nuclear war would have on the world. It is linked to what I say in my ‘Utopia & Dystopia in Cinema’ post where a filmmaker express his fears and transfer it to its audience to create an electroshock. It is said that this movie had an influence in Ronald Reagan’s decision to rethink his idea on nuclear proliferation.

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On desire, failure and fear: Utopia and dystopia in contemporary cinema - Barbara Klonowska

Here’s an article that I’ve found on the university’s online library and that I’ve read to understand better the role that utopia and dystopia plays in contemporary cinema.

“Utopianism, may be seen as a mental experiment, an imaginary laboratory for testing models of society different than those actually existing, and for checking, although metaphorically only in vitro, their suitability.”

“In contemporary culture, they are natural vehicles for the expression of and engaging with political and social problems”

“Utopia – both socio-political and artistic – is an ‘identification and expression of the deepest desires of our hearts, and those of others’ and ‘a necessary form of knowledge and truth [...] Predicated on the fundamental desire for a better world, utopia is primarily a vision of society in operation: it presents a model of community better than existing ones, with the imperfect reality kept as a point of reference.” 

“The failure of numerous political and social programmes, seemingly utopian and in the end proving lethal rather than perfect, additionally fuelled the bad reputation of utopia in contemporary culture [...] If present at all, contemporary utopian films show the ending or decline of utopian communities rather than their flourishing. “

“In contrast, post-war cinema and culture seems to be the age of dystopias [...] dystopia represents the fear of what the future may hold if we do not act to prevent the catastrophe”

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Utopia as method: the imaginary reconstitution of society - Ruth Levitas

This book has been important to develop my idea and has helped me to find and add meaning behind my work. I’ve read some chapters of the book, and from what I’ve understood, Ruth Levitas emphasises the role that utopias play. He describes utopias as a method, a method to suggest alternatives to our society. Utopias help to find solutions to what’s going wrong in the world and are used to think of a better future. As he describes it himself, it is an imaginary process that brings ideas on the table in order to improve our current situation. 

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Utopia & Dystopia in Cinema

Utopia and dystopia has become a common theme in nowadays cinema, and especially in science-fiction. A lot of films take place in ruined and apocalyptic worlds and many others in idealistic ones. A lot of those films are actually trying to convey a message and, in a way, challenge the viewer’s sense of the modern world and encourage him to consider the possible future effects of what’s happening in our world right now. Like in literature (and especially in dystopian film), the filmmaker finds a way to express his fear and dissatisfaction and attempt to transfer that concern to its audience. 

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Results from film soups: Part II

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Results from film soups: Part I

In the end, I have only shot two rolls of 35mm film instead of three as I’d original planned (due to the cost it takes to develop and scan the negatives). Out of 48 pictures, I’d say that I ended up with around 30 good looking pictures and that was more than enough! Some of them ended up not looking good because a) the effects weren’t interesting enough b) they were too damaged because of the ‘soup’ or c) when manually drying the film in a dark room, too much dust got stuck on it. What’s important is that I haven’t edited any of these pictures, this is how they came out of the lab. 

Why did I choose to shoot on 35mm film and make film soups instead of shooting with a digital camera and edit the pictures afterwards? The first reason is because I wanted to work with analogue film in the first place and because I’ve always wanted to try that technique. The second reason is that, in a world where everything is centred around technologies and digitalisation, I wanted to go in the opposite direction and give a more ‘human touch’ to my work. 

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The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin

The Dispossessed is a story about two planets (Anarres and Urras), which are fundamentally different in the way they are organised politically, economically and socially. One has a patriarchal system with a capitalist economy while the other one has an authoritarian system that rules in the name of the proletariat. This book touches many themes such as anarchism, capitalism, collectivism, etc. 

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Ecotopia - Ernest Callenbach

In this book, Callenbach depicts an ecostate, an ecological utopia, influenced by the green politics existing during the 1970s. His utopia accords a fundamental importance to environmental and social stability, implements the protection and restoration of natural systems, promotes creativity, ensures equality women, etc. He also emphasises the role of recycling. 

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Thomas More - Utopia

‘Utopia’ by Thomas More is one of the first book that explores the notion of an utopian society. Thomas More tries to depict a perfect society on different levels such as religion beliefs, social customs, legal and political systems, economic system, etc. The book points out some of the social and economic problems existing in Europe during the sixteen century. Via fictional characters, More suggest reforms that could benefit England (in this case) to improve the society back then.

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Utopia & Dystopia in Literature

The theme of utopia and dystopia have heavily influenced authors and writers over the years. Through literature, writers have been able to address sensitive issues about the way our societies work. It has enabled them to criticise some aspects of our lives and suggest new idea to improve the world we live in. Utopia and dystopia have become genres of fiction that explores social, political and economic structures. It has become famous in science-fiction and speculative fiction.

The dystopian novel emerged in response to the first utopian novels. Utopians believe in progress; dystopians don’t. They fight this argument out in competing visions of the future, utopians offering promises, dystopians issuing warnings. An utopia is a planned society; planned societies are often disastrous; that’s why utopias contain their own dystopias. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/05/a-golden-age-for-dystopian-fiction

In the end, utopia and dystopia have become two separate genres, even though they both are closely related.

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Utopia vs Dystopia Categories

Utopia and dystopia can be broken down into different categories according to the specific aspect on which they want to focus: . Ecological utopia/dystopia . Political utopia/dystopia . Economic utopia/dystopia . Spiritual utopia/dystopia . Science and technology utopia/dystopia

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Utopia vs Dystopia

I started doing research on what ‘utopia’ and ‘dystopia’ mean, how they are closely linked together and how artists, writes and philosophers have treated the subject in the last decades or so.

Utopia has come to mean a place that we can only dream about, a true paradise, an ideal world. Dystopia, which is the direct opposite of utopia, is a term used to describe a utopian society in which things have gone wrong. Both utopias and dystopias share characteristics of science fiction and fantasy, and both are usually set in a future in which technology has been used to create perfect living conditions. Dystopias are a way in which authors share their concerns about society and humanity. They also serve to warn members of a society to pay attention to the society in which they live and to be aware of how things can go from bad to worse without anyone realising what has happened.

Utopia refers to a better place, a place in which the contradictions that beset our current condition are transcended or resolved. Throughout the huge variety of forms it can take, the concept ‘utopia’ entails two related but contradictory elements: on the one hand the aspiration to a better world and on the other the acknowledgement that the form of that world may only ever live in our imaginations. http://enseignement.reginaassumpta.qc.ca/paliotti_ricard/The%20Giver/Utopia_vs_dystopia.htm https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/utopia-and-dystopia http://art.gold.ac.uk/mfa/utopia-in-contemporary-art/