Utopian (?) Visions of the Future

The opening introduction to the project. A postcard for those who wish to announce they have "arrived". Not totally sure who to credit for the image - but please look at their web site.

It’s surprising that there isn’t more art generated to communicate a future to aspire towards. Anyone my age missed the great enthusiasm of futurism during the 50s and 60s and is more used to apocalyptic visions from Terminator, Bladerunner, etc.

The magic of the project are the enthusiastic blurbs on the back of the "postcards" for revellers to post home.

Liam Young and David Chen are contributors to the “Tomorrow’s Thoughts Today” blog, which is rich with design fiction provocations that are superb to wander through. One of my favourites, and in fact how I discovered them, is a project called “Where The Grass Is Greener”. It’s a tongue in cheek vision of a utopian future;

“Where The Grass Is Greener” documents a radical alternative in contemporary living, an urban infrastructure, a social experiment, a political statement…. Three thousand residents and counting. In London’s outer suburbs, a community has gathered walling themselves off from the rest of society. These postcards bear testament to their vision.

More postcards for your viewing pleasure

Read the rest of this entry »