FRONTIERS OF UTOPIA
(1995)

EN:FRONTIERS OF UTOPIA gave the audience the chance to explore and reflect upon the ideals of women from history and their thoughts on life and politics. They could virtually meet and interact with eight virtual characters by using interactive suitcases and touch sensitive screens. These were Emma (based on the life of the anarchist Emma Goldman), Mary (rural socialist in Paraguay), Margaret (secretary in a New York design firm), Pearl (an aboriginal poet), Maria (Yugoslavian hippy), Gillian (Marxist student radical), Ki (Chinese physicist) and Zira (new age programmer). All the characters had different political viewpoints related to the years 1900s, 1930s, 1960s and 1990s respectively. The viewer could also construct parallels between periods and locations based on shared class and gender by clicking a large photograph of all eight woman from Frontiers of Utopia, eating together at a dinner party. If they touched their faces, they could select who would talk to whom and from what era. The whole aim was to allow the viewer to "cross time zones" to compare the idealism from different generations more easily. DE: FRONTIERS OF UTOPIA gave the audience the opportunity to performatively explore the ideals of 8 women from history and their lives and political ideas. With the help of interactive suitcases and touch-sensitive screens, they were able to meet and interact with eight virtual characters. These were Emma (based on the life of anarchist Emma Goldman), Mary (a rural Paraguayan socialist), Margaret (a secretary at a New York design firm), Pearl (a Native Australian poet), Maria (a Yugoslavian hippie woman), Gillian (a radical Marxist student), Ki (a Chinese physicist) and Zira (a New Age programmer). All the figures from the different decades of 1900, 1930, 1960 and 1990 had different political positions and ideals. Viewers were able to explore global parallels between the different eras of women and their ideas based on their class and gender. On a large group photo of a "dinner party" with all 8 women, two different women were selectable, who then spoke to each other on a monitor. This made it possible to "cross time zones" in order to compare different ideals of different generations of women.