In Recovered Utopias, artist Axel Straschnoy invited young people of today and of the 1960's to reflect on past and present utopias. “For my generation, the best future is that in which things do not change - but the feeling is that the generation that preceded me was a generation for which the future was full of promise: anything was possible”, the artist explains the starting point of the project.
A group of students At MAYK Upper Secondary School received visiting 'senior utopia consultants' from the nearby Saunabaari Community Centre. Taking the possibility of space travel to Mars as their vantage point, the artist and participants envisioned and scripted a school day on Mars. They communicated the material environment of the script into the 'Mars Walker' (school bus) and the 'Cupola City', which were rendered as 3D models and printed as objects with Albert Laine.
The 3D models also functioned as the virtual set for short film The Loop, where participants inhabit Mars in an open-ended scenario. During the film-making process, the students used the school's new media space Inno.
At the end of the process the Recovered Utopias installation, consisting of 3D objects and a film loop, was exhibited at Maunula House (December 2017) and again at the MAYK school premises (March 2018).
Axel Straschnoy: Recovered Utopias
Design of 3D object concepts
Ebba Lillqvist
Elias Elonheimo
Joel Tenhunen
Kale Kaivola
Katja Parpala
Matti Kaskenaho
Mette Nummela
Nikita Shtokalenko
Utsab Pokharel
Venla Lehtinen
Virve Väyrynen
Actors
Ainu Lindholm
Annael Natzkaya
Enna Samuli
Heikki Häkkä
Kale Kaivola
Katja Parpala
Mette Nummela
Nikita Shtokalenko
Päivi Seiskari
Safia Haji Abdullahi
Sakari Topi
Unikko Salo
Venla Lehtinen
Edit
Heikki Häkkä
Kale Kaivola
Matti Kaskenaho
Nikita Shtokalenko
Unikko Salo
Virve Väyrynen
Utopia consultants
Kale Kaivola
Matti Kaskenaho
Virve Väyrynen
3D models and post-production
Albert Laine
Thanks to
Maunula Secondary School
Strada- programme of Art, Media and Culture / Petra Streng, Tiina Kokkoniemi, Päivi Seiskari
Drama club / Heikki Häkkä
Inno space / Arto Tommiska
Aalto-yliopisto FabLab / Solomon Embafrash
The project was commissioned and co-produced by m-cult in May-December 2017 in context of the Collaborative Arts Partnership Programme, supported by the Creative Europe programme.