UTOPIA This Video-Composition includes 22 videos / 22 artists / 22 countries : 45 min

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UTOPIA

22 videos - 22 artists - 22 countries (45 min)

UTOPIA IS NOT A FUTURISTIC SCENARIO - Alessandra Arnò (Italy - 1)

UTOPIA - Evgenija Demnievska (Serbia - 2)

NICHES - Janelle Vanderkelen (USA - 3)

PANTA RHEI - Marilena Preda Sanc (Romania - 4)

THE POETICS OF THE BORDERS - Berlin-Nicosia - Vouvoula Skoura (Greece - 5)

ON THE SURFACE OF OURSELVES - Liina Siib (Estonia - 6)

DREAM OF PEACE AND FREEDOM - Maria de Alba (Spain - 7)

SLOW DOWN by Prilla Tania (Indonesia - 8)

POINT OF VIEW - Sigrun Hardardottir (Iceland - 9)

NO EMPTY LAND - Anne Penders (Belgium - 10)

WATERWAYS - Christie Widiarto (Australia - 11)

HOPE - Graciela Taquini (Argentina - 12)

FACING THE SEA - Surekha Sharada (India - 13)

SHAKE, ROLL, TAP, CUT AND CHOP - Sabine Mooibroek (The Netherlands / Switzerland - 14)

MEMORIAS DEL HIELO - Rosa Jijón (Ecuador - 15)

ELDORADO - Katya Nikonorova (Kazakhstan - 16)

THE DREAM OF FORMOSA - Esperanza Collado (Ireland - 17)

EVENT HORIZON - Heejeong Jeong (South Korea - 18)

ÜTOPYA - Cagdas Kahriman Turkey – 19)

BIRTH OF THE BAY - Jelena Miskovic (Serbia - 20)

COME, LET'S LIVE AND THINK BETWEEN THE LINES - Véronique Sapin (France / Canada - 21)

BITTER FLAME - Tanya Akhmetgalieva (Russia - 22)

CONCEPT

"At a time when everything is blocked by systems that have failed but cannot be defeated... utopia is our resource. It can be an escape, but it is also the weapon of criticism."

Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005) - Philosopher

Utopia has haunted the human imagination since the dawn of thought. It takes on the guise of a promise of a better world, a horizon of all possibilities where the rough edges of existence fade away in favor of a dreamed-of harmony.

The utopian can be impatient, a rebel who imagines himself as a liberator, like the Dominican Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639) who wanted to rouse the people against Spanish domination. In his book City of the Sun, or Idea of a Philosophical Republic, he attacks the political and religious order.

The utopian can also attack the sexual order, like Charles Fourier (1772-1837) who rehabilitated the pleasures of the flesh and proposed liberating morals in order to unite individuals and achieve harmony. This project was accompanied by a return to the land. A source of inspiration for hippies in the 1960s.

The utopian may also seek to reconfigure cities, like urban planner Le Corbusier, who presented his plan for the redevelopment of Paris in 1925: razing the 1st arrondissement to build offices in eighteen 200-meter-high towers served by a highway network. Fortunately for Parisians, certain utopias never leave their plans...

Today, utopia suffers from a bad reputation. Visionaries of perfect worlds are accused of being unrealistic, even of paving the way for totalitarianism. The memory of the experience of scientifically fabricating a more just world is still fresh, and not only has This utopia, which was not completed, brought its share of crimes and disenchantment. Now, the idea that "another world is possible" seems to be integrated into people's minds, not as a common ideal, but as the ideal of a new networked individualism where, to paraphrase Freud, the "narcissism of small differences" reigns. Crossing all social classes, utopia takes the form of Epicureanism. It addresses everyone according to the contemporary instruction—"Do yourself some good"—with its corollary—"You are exceptional"—and its conclusion—"I deserve it"—2,300 years behind Epicurus, the individual seems to have rid himself of what hindered his development.

But so focused on himself, has human beings given up on improving society? Are they doomed to live in a world where the unequal distribution of wealth inevitably breeds violence and conflict? A world Where the law of the strongest and fanaticism triumph over justice and tolerance? A world where economic and demographic growth are accompanied by the relentless destruction of our environment?

And art?

In 1986, David K. Lewis published On the Plurality of Worlds, a work that renewed reflection on the essence of the work of art and aesthetics: are a painting, a book, a film the revealed truth about our own world or one possible world among others? An exploration or an escape?

The artists of FL'Art have taken up the theme UTOPIA as a stimulating exercise. Their videos are lucid, ironic, or despairing; they take the form of a critique, a stocktaking, or they maintain the idea of a gap between what is and what should be.

From the Angle of Harmony

"The future is not a place we go to, but a place we create. Paths must be made by walking; there is no other way."

Bell Hooks (1952-2021) - Writerand theorist

The artists envision ideal relationships between humans, nature, and technology. Their videos examine Utopia from the perspective of harmony regained or to be built. Some works depict a symbiosis where technology serves human flourishing and environmental preservation. Others explore forms of "well-being" through close-knit communities and egalitarian relationships. These utopian visions manifest in imaginary landscapes, collective celebrations, or the quest for a shared subjectivity.

UTOPIA IS NOT A FUTURISTIC SCENARIO - Alessandra Arnò (Italy - 1)

WATERWAYS - Christie Widiarto (Australia - 11)

FACING THE SEA - Surekha Sharada (India - 13)

MEMORIAS DEL HIELO - Rosa Jijón (Ecuador - 15)

ÜTOPYA - Cagdas Kahriman Turkey – 19)

Between Light and Shadow

"Ideologies are neither concerned with the world nor capable of learning from it."

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975)

Political Theorist, Philosopher, Author

While exploring the notion of Utopia, the video works reveal its potential contradictions and gray areas. They highlight the tensions between the collective ideal and individual aspirations, the risks of imprisonment or loss of freedom, and the fragility of utopian constructs in the face of reality. The videos confront us with the limits of the ideal and the need for critical insight.

UTOPIA - Evgenija Demnievska (Serbia - 2)

THE POETICS OF THE BORDERS - Berlin-Nicosia - Vouvoula Skoura (Greece - 5)

ON THE SURFACE OF OURSELVES - Liina Siib (Estonia - 6)

DREAM OF PEACE AND FREEDOM - Maria de Alba (Spain - 7)

SLOW DOWN by Prilla Tania (Indonesia - 8)

NO EMPTY LAND - Anne Penders (Belgium - 10)

EVENT HORIZON - Heejeong Jeong (South Korea - 18)

BITTER FLAME - Tanya Akhmetgalieva (Russia - 22)

Dynamic Processes

"Hope is a virtue that requires as much heroism as courage."

George Sand (1804-1876) - Novelist, playwright, letter writer, literary critic, and journalist

When the videos focus on Utopia as a dynamic process, they explore it through the ideas of movement, transformation, ebb and flow, aspiration, and action. They emphasize the importance of the creative act, of questioning norms, and of the ability to find utopia in the present.

NICHES - Janelle Vanderkelen (USA - 3)

PANTA RHEI - Marilena Preda Sanc (Romania - 4)

POINT OF VIEW - Sigrun Hardardottir (Iceland - 9)

HOPE - Graciela Taquini (Argentina - 12)

SHAKE, ROLL, TAP, CUT AND CHOP - Sabine Mooibroek (The Netherlands / Switzerland - 14)

ELDORADO - Katya Nikonorova (Kazakhstan - 16)

THE DREAM OF FORMOSA - Esperanza Collado (Ireland - 17)

BIRTH OF THE BAY - Jelena Miskovic (Serbia - 20)

COME, LET'S LIVE AND THINK BETWEEN THE LINES - Véronique Sapin (France / Canada - 21)