Utopia
Sunday, October19th, 2008
Two things:
1. I’m writing this from the inside of my crumbling modernist apartment building. Perfectly rectangular. Relatively soulless. And very tough to grow plants in. But still, somehow I remain fond of the place and continue to live here. I think on some level, its modernism’s connection to the creation of all-encompassing utopias that keeps me here in Longfellow.
This building, in its decaying international style glory, surrounds me in an envelope of nostalgia for…. modernism. I never thought I’d say that – but – I miss those periods of history that were shaped by some sense of moving into a new direction. However, alienating and failure bound that direction may have been.
It was the search for Utopia. Or someplace very much like it.
2. Next week I am kicking off my first new series of images by making a pilgrimage to a literal utopia: the city of Utopia, Queens, New York.
A city with this namesake can only be the perfect place for me to travel.
After all:
Any map without Utopia on it isn’t worth looking at.
-Yoko Ono