By Osvaldo Guillermo Turco
From prehistoric times to antiquity, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Age to the Information Age mankind has obsessively contemplated utopia. This blissful ideal to we can call home has inspired countless works of art from paintings to novels; yet it begs the question, is utopia itself an art-form? Is there anything artistic about ancient man sitting under the blanket of stars wondering about where to belong?
From prehistoric times to antiquity, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Age to the Information Age mankind has obsessively contemplated utopia. This blissful ideal to we can call home has inspired countless works of art from paintings to novels; yet it begs the question, is utopia itself an art-form? Is there anything artistic about ancient man sitting under the blanket of stars wondering about where to belong?
Art is a movement in a society that connects at the very least two individuals, or one individual and an idea. For so many people they feel utterly at home in their current city or country; but for so many they dream of a better home and they search compulsively for it, as if finding it will complete them somehow. There are some out there who will search and find no solace and no place where they feel at home physically or spiritually. For us, the need for home surpasses the physical realm so we start to imagine or construct a metaphysical home.
Creating this personal utopia can encompass so many different acts, from simple contemplation to elaborate architectural illustrations; and all of them are works of art. Imagine a modern man sitting under the blanket of stars wondering about this home that exists only in the mind. If we conceive art as a connection, then from this effortless act we have a powerful connection between one individual and another separated by millennia and an equally potent connection between a single individual and their idea of home. Millions of people throughout history have died searching for home and with the simple act of imagining your utopia you have found something worth dying for, peace. This is not just art; this is the spirit of art. Any artists will tell you that they create art to find some semblance of peace within themselves. And as an audience when we connect with a work of art we become inextricably linked to it. So when we construct this metaphysical home we are both the artist and the audience simultaneously and our medium, our canvas is utopia.
Creating this personal utopia can encompass so many different acts, from simple contemplation to elaborate architectural illustrations; and all of them are works of art. Imagine a modern man sitting under the blanket of stars wondering about this home that exists only in the mind. If we conceive art as a connection, then from this effortless act we have a powerful connection between one individual and another separated by millennia and an equally potent connection between a single individual and their idea of home. Millions of people throughout history have died searching for home and with the simple act of imagining your utopia you have found something worth dying for, peace. This is not just art; this is the spirit of art. Any artists will tell you that they create art to find some semblance of peace within themselves. And as an audience when we connect with a work of art we become inextricably linked to it. So when we construct this metaphysical home we are both the artist and the audience simultaneously and our medium, our canvas is utopia.
