A Curatorial Perspective on Two Objects

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles wishes to highlight Sankofa City (2017) and The Utopia Machine (2024) as two works within the PST ART exhibition No Prior Art that exemplify the notion of returning to the past in order to build towards a future. Both projects are similarly invested in the theme “Visions of the Future” through their contributions to creating better futures for all through a collective reimagining of what communities, societies, and worlds could be, without limiting ideas to what is possible right here, right now.

In Sankofa City, this dedication to radical imagination involves generating a cross-disciplinary methodology for future-facing participatory design through the integration of urban planning, community art, education, social science research, and speculative design. Sankofa City is the product of collaborations between visionary artist and filmmaker Ben Caldwell, Leimert Park residents and USC and Sci-Arc students working in teams to imagine alternative futures tied to local culture.

The Utopia Machine is a participatory, ongoing project open to the public created by renowned artist Ellen Harvey. By visiting http://utopiamachine.org, anyone interested is able and encouraged to submit ideas for the creation of The Utopia Machine– an imagined device whose aim is to further the possibility for a utopian society. With no specifications as to what can be submitted other than what one thinks would “make this world into a utopia” and why, The Utopia Machine provides very little scaffolding for participants to craft their submissions, which will inspire individual painted panels that combine to form a larger fictional patent illustration in the gallery space. This open-endedness allows for boundless creativity, in which people of all backgrounds can contribute ideas informed by lived experience, daily life, and imagination.