PaRDeS

I feel that most people, at one time or another, have a utopian vision for the world. For some it is limited to imagining a place with well-marked bike lanes or deep respect for livestock. Others are more ambitious and desire an overhaul of capitalism or racial harmony. I have certainly dabbled in a number of utopian ideals in my time, based on my idea of environmentalism or  socialism, but my commitment was ultimately a bit wishy-washy, and the allure of a good steak (unorganic, shipped from across the country) or a cute and affordable dress (made of toxic materials in a Chinese sweatshop) proved stronger than my ideals. Though there is one change-the-world cause that I have managed to stay loyal to, a utopian vision that felt both practical and important enough for me to persevere, and that is equality of the sexes.

Read the rest here.

Ernst Bloch in his essay “The Principle of Hope” presents a green light to dream, to put our foot on the gas, and go to Utopia. 

Be it by choice or instinct,  I  find myself on that road, working towards building some kind of better.  Over the last few weeks I have been trying to navigate the funny and strange landscape of utopia in art of the twenty-first century, studying the topography of it, and discovering forks in the road - that is the different offshoots of the notion: Eutopia, Utopia, Hetrotopia, Dystopia, Utopistics etc.  Through this exploration I am trying to understand my artistic vision and how I can impact the world through my art.

To assist with the navigation process, I singled out four fundamental utopian artists - perhaps reincarnations of the wise prophets who visit the pardes - and studied their utopian journeys. These men entered a sublime realm by practicing the transformation of society through art. They not only dreamed of an artistic form of salvation, but answered hell, yes to the question  is it possible...? They  devoted their insight, energy, talent, and resources to creating their own utopias and bringing them to life, bearing both the sourness of failure, destruction, and insanity, as well as the savory taste of  fulfillment.
 
Their characters, projects, and words are included below in historic order. 

 Read the rest here.
 

Passover contains one of the most interesting forms of utopia: the utopia of memory.

Even its first mention in the Book of Exodus contains both the plain reality of the occurrence and an intense emphasis on memory. When God is telling Moses the “work plan” for the last night in Egypt, he says:

14: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.
15: Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.
16: And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. (Exodus 12)
Read the rest here.

Zevon, Springsteen and Dylan all try to enter paradise, playing with the idea of perfection and a release from the mundane.  They all have the same utopian mission, the resolution of purpose, but arrive at different places when they ultimately, as we all do, fail.  Zevon finds cynicism, Springsteen, hope, and Dylan, resignation.

Read the rest here.

       If you will it, it is no dream.

This is a packed month for LABA!  Our current gallery exhibition is Stagecraft, featuring the work of LABA artist in residence Manju Shandler.  Stagecraft runs until April 11.  Click here for a video from the exhibition, featuring rehearsal footage of the upcoming production of A Wonderfully Flat Thing premiering on April 11 at 11am and 2pm. 
 
Tickets now on sale for PARDES - The LABA Festival 2010.
For a full schedule, please click here.

BINDING, a dance theatre piece, will be performed at PS122 as part of the SoloNova Arts Festival. BINDING was created with support from LABA. Buy tickets here.

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At the March 4 MoMA performance of his one-man multimedia presentation “I am not me, the horse is not mine,” originally staged for the 2008 Sydney Biennial, visual artist William Kentridge declared, “Even as utopia starts to disappear and becomes fragmented, we hang on to it, as if it would re-create it through a wish, through a will, through a desire.” Kentridge, who recently participated in Melbourne’s Experimenta Utopia Now International Biennial of Media Art, creates work in which utopia is far, far away.

Catch Kentridge's work at MOMA, the Metropolitan Opera, Dieu Donné and the World Financial Center this month.

Read more about Kentridge's work and his current show at MOMA and production at the MET here.

 Nisan is the first month of the Jewish calendar. The month of Nisan begins, in particular, the period (tekufah) of the spring. The three months of this period--Nisan, Iyar, Sivan--correspond to the three tribes of the camp of Judah--Judah, Issachar, Zebulun--who were situated to the east of the Tabernacle. In the Torah, Nisan is referred to as "the month of the spring" (חודש האביב).

Nisan is also referred to as "the month of the redemption." According to the accepted opinion of our sages: "In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt and in Nisan we will be redeemed" (Rosh Hashanah 11a).

Nisan is a month of miracles, as its name stems from the Hebrew word for "miracles" (ניסים). The fact that the name Nisan (ניסן) possesses two nuns (נ and ן) implies according to the sages to "miracles of miracles" (ניסי ניסים). Of the future redemption, it is said: "As the days of your exodus from Egypt, I shall reveal to him wonders."

Read the rest at www.inner.org here.

LABAlights is a monthly publication of the LABA fellows at the 14th Street Y. It is published at the beginning of the Jewish month, when the new moon is on the rise. Every month LABA fellows and guests present essays, commentary, art, and music around a theme connected to the pardes.