On the south wall of the 20/21 gallery we bring together a group of objects focused on a single topic of conversation. Among these objects we hope you will hear not only the voices of individual artists and interpreters, but also enter into the discussion with your own thoughts and questions. Just as conversations move fluidly from one topic to the next, so too will this installation change with relative frequency.
We invite you to visit often, mine the collection, and participate in the conversation.
By nature people strive for perfection. We constantly try to better ourselves and the world around us. Whether we educate ourselves formally or informally, advocate social causes or simply go to a gym and watch our diet, we are engaged in personal and social activities that emerge from a common denominator: our belief in progress and our desire for improvement. But will we ever arrive at a perfect place? Or is a place of perfection nonexistent?
In his 1516 book Of the Best State of a Republic, and of the New Island Utopia Thomas More gave a name to humankind's musings about an ideal state of affairs. The word “utopia”, from the Greek: οu, "not", and τόπος, "place", is used to imply perfect political, economic, religious, or scientific communities. However, a concept of utopia is double sided. It may signify an impractical, unattainable ideal with pejorative overtones. Thus, it also reflects centuries-old anxieties about the improbability of attaining a state of perfection.
20/21 Conversation VII: Utopia/Dystopia brings together a selection of artists who investigate dimensions of utopian-dystopian thinking in various spheres of contemporary life. Featuring more than 40 photographs and prints drawn from the Spencer’s permanent collection, the exhibition invites the viewer to contemplate various signs of political, social, technological, ecological, and gender utopianism which are intermingled with dystopian and apocalyptic imagery as a counterbalance to utopian enthusiasm.
The Age of Technology
Utopian narratives of the pre-modern world propagated cultivation of mind and spirit as the main occupation of the perfect society. Scientific and technological achievements in such narratives were a virtue as long as they were subordinated to the spiritual needs of the society. With the advance of industrialization and secularization people often started thinking about technological progress as a goal in itself which did not require any justification.
The Ideal City/The Ideal Society
The conception of the ideal city and the ideal society comes from the ancient Hellenic world. Plato in his Republic (380 c BC) saw the ideal human organization as a concentrated expression of cosmic order. Plato and other classical philosophers believed that the blueprints of the perfect city-state had divine origin. However, it was humanity’s task to discover and put these divine principles into action. Thus, the notion of an ideal city and society, from its beginning, emphasized the primacy of human reason. Rational planning, regulation, and administration were essential to the good order.