about
As of September, 2012, CONCRETE UTOPIA is on an indefinite hiatus.
CONCRETE UTOPIA is a project space devoted to the innovative cultivation of creative practice and discourse. The space, which began operations in two successive apartment-based locations in Brooklyn between autumn 2010 and 2012, hosts group shows, solo shows, site-specific installations, collaborations, film and video screenings, performances, readings, off-site interventions, and anything we dream up. This is our platform. And we are excited.
The name of the space is originally inspired by the philosophy of Ernst Bloch, but taken specifically from an address by Peter Noever, Director of the MAK center for art in Vienna, wherein he states "there is nothing more realistic than concrete utopia. Concrete utopias are not abstract fantasies, nor wishful thinking, but unactualized potentials." Though Noever's text proceeds to address the museum's potential as an anticipation of what is to come, we, in our space, believe that we are what is to come--utopia in its perpetual state of being actualized, in its most palpable and material possibility.
With this is mind, UTOPIA is also an open space of immodest humor, of mistakes, and of dubious uncertainty. We are a project space, a work in progress, a constant reinvention.
In its first two years, CONCRETE UTOPIA was a proverbial dipping-your-toes-in-the-water for its participants into many different worlds of art in New York City. It was a site for experimentation with organizational models, a chance to test for-profit, not-for-profit, pop-up, domestic, and collaborative practices while the institutional and capital stakes remained low and creativity and maneuverability high. As it is stated in the above mission statement-cum-manifesto, CONCRETE UTOPIA was a platform: a makeshift stage for artistic presentation and a launch pad for endeavors not possible without an established organizational presence.
If you are interested in learning more about the space, artists and collaborators, or past projects and publications, we would love to hear from you. To contact us, please send an email to info@concreteutopia.org.
THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed their time, money, patience, enthusiasm,
and creativity to CONCRETE UTOPIA.