Paradise Lost
Utopia: a perfect and ideal place or society, where there’s a collective dream of the peaceful and harmonious. Sir Thomas More coined this phrase in 1516, and we’ve been dreaming and constructing our own utopias ever since – the perfect vacation, a gated suburban community, or a commune free from the rules and order of society. The latest exhibit at FLLAC, Utopian Mirage: Social Metaphors in Contemporary Photography and Film, reflects these dreams of perfection, examining utopian ideals from the past, present, and future, and exposing the inevitable truth – that such places are unobtainable and flawed, and that, ultimately, utopia translates into “no place.”
Many of the scenes represented in the series of 50 large-scale color and black-and-white photographs are familiar: a father and son grilling in the suburbs, a forest stripped for a row of McMansions, or an abandoned city building. Some of these images seem benign at first glance, but look closely and there are signs of pollution, materialism, violence, and decay. “These artists are suggesting that the sinister side of suburbia is lurking within, not from the outside,” explains Mary-Kay Lombino, the art center’s Emily Hargroves Fisher ’57 and Richard B. Fisher Curator.
The exhibit doesn’t include just American dreams of utopia, but also scenes from other parts of the world, including China, Canada, and Italy. In China, new developments and skyscrapers loom over traditional buildings, and in one photograph, thousands of Chinese workers uniformly march down the street in front of a shoe factory. Is this progress? The urban ideal is a place where educated and sophisticated people share certain values. Yet many of these artists suggest that cities are places scarred by corruption, violence, overcrowding, and pollution.
At the other extreme are those who fled mainstream life in the city for a simpler existence in nature. An abandoned school bus in the woods, a geodesic dome constructed out of stripped car roofs for a group of artists living on the edge of society, and a group of nudists in the woods reflect the dreams of young people living off the land. There is an element of fantasy, but it’s clear that the artists who photographed these failed communities were also interested in how and why these societies failed. These photographers are not only capturing our failed dreams of perfection, but also exploring how our visions of utopia change over time and throughout different cultures.
The exhibition also features several multimedia components. A digital slideshow moves through 40 images of a Fascist community built on the coast of Italy, where broken windows and crumbling building materials clutter the patios and the fenced in swimming pools. A short film also examines utopian ideals through the eyes of Canadian youth replanting trees after another wave of deforestation.
The exhibit, which runs through July 29, is also accompanied by an outdoor film series. Every Thursday night at 8:30 in June, the art center plans to screen films dealing with themes of utopia and dystopia on the lawn. The films include Playtime, Blade Runner, and Children of Men.
Later, throughout the month of July, the Powerhouse apprentice program will create an impromptu soundpainting every Thursday, with a performance based on the exhibition. Ruins, directed and soundpainted by Tomi Tsunoda and Mark Lindberg, is a spontaneous performance in which the directors use over 750 gestures to cue the performers. Sound confusing? Come see one of the free shows or visit powerhouse.vassar.edu for more information.