ARTiculation: You-topia
The concept of Utopia is the imagined
solution to our earthly problems...the picture
of heaven on earth. Your Happy Place.
Often, in art history, utopic societies are painted as being free from a societal structure, but most often, it has been portrayed as a unified people acting both as the decision makers and as the workers. Such is the case in Pieter Bruegel's The Tower of Babel. A widely regarded utopic painting from the 1500s, Bruegel modeled his painting of his perfect society after a quote found in the book of Genesis: “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'” (Genesis 11:4) It's easy to predict my next question, then: what would our Tower of Babel look like now? If we were to paint our ideal society, what would it be? But the answer doesn't come as intuitively, likely because we never do.
With the shake of Elvis Presley's hips, the rise of freedom of expression (and subsequently) the beginnings of a battle for equality began. But rather than planning the future like excited pups on the verge of finding a bone, we became nothin' but hound dogs, cryin' all the time. All. The damn time. Most civilian art morphed from being utopic in nature to pointing out what is wrong with the world — war, poverty and inequality. And here we've sat.
If you visit any local art galleries, you're nearly guaranteed to see at least one gut-wrenching image of a starving African child, a flag-waving war scene, an obese man eating a burger. It seems that everyone has something to say about what's so wrong with our world, but where are the solutions?
It is true of nearly any facet of culture that as time rolls on, things progress and change. But what is so radically different from modern pre-revolutionary sentiment to those same feelings of past eras? People have felt unhappy in their society before, and people have even revolted much more drastically than anyone in the West is doing right now, but somehow they've kept an eye on the prize, and we've become jaded. Our problems have certainly detensified from the fear of being stoned or burned at the stake to second mortgages and divorce, so what are we whining about?
A friend once lamented to me that any time he speaks to someone about his dissatisfaction with society, people always shoot the question back at him: “What's your great solution, then?” He and I had a debate about whether or not a solution must be thought of if a problem is being considered. He argued that just because he doesn't have an answer to the problem yet, that doesn't mean he shouldn't be discussing the issue. And I said the opposite: if there is a problem, we should be thinking of the solution, otherwise it's just wallowing. But upon further reflection, I think we were both correct.
In order to find a solution, the problem must be identified.But in order to identify a problem, you must be aware that there's a better option. Daydreaming of ‘heaven on earth' filled with endless supplies of mint chip ice cream and no due dates on your projects isn't going to make it happen, but dreaming up those ideal conditions lets us know that there's something to be desired: our needs are not being fully satisfied.
I think that the way the artists who have come before us did what came naturally to them. Art was a form of escapism. But art, in our time, has decided to do it the other way around. Rather than dreaming of solutions to realize there's a problem, the problems have become obvious, and now it's time to start moulding our future.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
Often, in art history, utopic societies are painted as being free from a societal structure, but most often, it has been portrayed as a unified people acting both as the decision makers and as the workers. Such is the case in Pieter Bruegel's The Tower of Babel. A widely regarded utopic painting from the 1500s, Bruegel modeled his painting of his perfect society after a quote found in the book of Genesis: “Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'” (Genesis 11:4) It's easy to predict my next question, then: what would our Tower of Babel look like now? If we were to paint our ideal society, what would it be? But the answer doesn't come as intuitively, likely because we never do.
With the shake of Elvis Presley's hips, the rise of freedom of expression (and subsequently) the beginnings of a battle for equality began. But rather than planning the future like excited pups on the verge of finding a bone, we became nothin' but hound dogs, cryin' all the time. All. The damn time. Most civilian art morphed from being utopic in nature to pointing out what is wrong with the world — war, poverty and inequality. And here we've sat.
If you visit any local art galleries, you're nearly guaranteed to see at least one gut-wrenching image of a starving African child, a flag-waving war scene, an obese man eating a burger. It seems that everyone has something to say about what's so wrong with our world, but where are the solutions?
It is true of nearly any facet of culture that as time rolls on, things progress and change. But what is so radically different from modern pre-revolutionary sentiment to those same feelings of past eras? People have felt unhappy in their society before, and people have even revolted much more drastically than anyone in the West is doing right now, but somehow they've kept an eye on the prize, and we've become jaded. Our problems have certainly detensified from the fear of being stoned or burned at the stake to second mortgages and divorce, so what are we whining about?
A friend once lamented to me that any time he speaks to someone about his dissatisfaction with society, people always shoot the question back at him: “What's your great solution, then?” He and I had a debate about whether or not a solution must be thought of if a problem is being considered. He argued that just because he doesn't have an answer to the problem yet, that doesn't mean he shouldn't be discussing the issue. And I said the opposite: if there is a problem, we should be thinking of the solution, otherwise it's just wallowing. But upon further reflection, I think we were both correct.
In order to find a solution, the problem must be identified.But in order to identify a problem, you must be aware that there's a better option. Daydreaming of ‘heaven on earth' filled with endless supplies of mint chip ice cream and no due dates on your projects isn't going to make it happen, but dreaming up those ideal conditions lets us know that there's something to be desired: our needs are not being fully satisfied.
I think that the way the artists who have come before us did what came naturally to them. Art was a form of escapism. But art, in our time, has decided to do it the other way around. Rather than dreaming of solutions to realize there's a problem, the problems have become obvious, and now it's time to start moulding our future.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
