(Im)perfect Worlds. Around the Dark Cities of Schuiten and Peeters.
New Impressions| N° d'inventaire | 22421 |
| Format | 24.5 x 32.5 |
| Détails | 127 p., bound. |
| Publication | Brussels, 2019 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782874497308 |
The Maison d'Ailleurs, a museum of science fiction, utopia, and extraordinary journeys in Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland), is presenting a major exhibition: "Imperfect Worlds. Around the Obscure Cities of Schuiten and Peeters," from November 17, 2019, to October 25, 2020. This book is an extension and a deepening of this exhibition, focusing on the notions of utopia and dystopia. The official birth certificate of utopia is the publication in 1516 of the story Utopia by the English humanist Thomas More. He depicts an alternative world in which human beings are postulated to be happy, due to an innovative socio-political organization. But the last sentence of Utopia suggests that this city should remain at the level of a "wish," that is, a model that should definitely not be realized. Indeed, as soon as we begin to tell, from the inside, what happens in utopia, the supposedly perfect city expresses its alienating dimension and transforms into a dystopia. From Brave New World and 1984 to Blade Runner, The Handmaid's Tale and Black Minor, the last few decades have seen a proliferation of such stories, in literature, cinema and elsewhere. "IMPERFECT WORLDS" offers a solid synthesis on the subject, enhanced by numerous documents and rare or unpublished drawings from the Obscure Cities of François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters.
The Maison d'Ailleurs, a museum of science fiction, utopia, and extraordinary journeys in Yverdon-les-Bains (Switzerland), is presenting a major exhibition: "Imperfect Worlds. Around the Obscure Cities of Schuiten and Peeters," from November 17, 2019, to October 25, 2020. This book is an extension and a deepening of this exhibition, focusing on the notions of utopia and dystopia. The official birth certificate of utopia is the publication in 1516 of the story Utopia by the English humanist Thomas More. He depicts an alternative world in which human beings are postulated to be happy, due to an innovative socio-political organization. But the last sentence of Utopia suggests that this city should remain at the level of a "wish," that is, a model that should definitely not be realized. Indeed, as soon as we begin to tell, from the inside, what happens in utopia, the supposedly perfect city expresses its alienating dimension and transforms into a dystopia. From Brave New World and 1984 to Blade Runner, The Handmaid's Tale and Black Minor, the last few decades have seen a proliferation of such stories, in literature, cinema and elsewhere. "IMPERFECT WORLDS" offers a solid synthesis on the subject, enhanced by numerous documents and rare or unpublished drawings from the Obscure Cities of François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters.