Nude-topia, an installation created for the MOCA/Denver Biennial
by Susan Meyer, references past utopian experiments and their intersections
with art, commerce and modernity. An observation area outfitted
with product line and marketing materials greets the viewer/visitor. From
the aluminum-plated deck visitors might select from among a series of “model” utopian
landscapes - futuristic, sci-fi, B-movie version. Suggestions of
communal activity and industry encourage closer inspection. Nude-topia is
inhabited by tiny, pseudo-classical plastic figures seemingly unable
to connect with each other or their current situations, and appears prey
to forces outside of its control. The work is inspired by past
utopian communities, particularly those near Concord, MA and in what
was known as the “burned-over region” of upstate New
York; from their initial, often ill-conceived attempts at perfection
to their eventual, often tragicomic surrenders to defeat.
