Utopia and The Need For Art
Essay by Chrissy Swain, April 2023
0. Preface
I have been battling with anxiety and depression for a long time. I have first-hand experience of the Western approach to dealing with mental health problems, which is largely dependent on pharmaceuticals and counselling. Although I am grateful that I have never been locked in an asylum, I wonder if the Eastern approaches, particularly Chinese, being less scientific and more holistic, would be more beneficial. In my utopia, I imagine having an infinite amount of money. My thoughts about money include believing that spending the money I think I have, which I may not actually have, is necessary in order to live a comfortable and happy life. (This is probably false thinking!). I have financial problems because I can spend irresponsibly depending on my mood swings. I’m also not good at keeping track of time.
“For several thousand years, Eastern approaches have focused on proactive, self-directed self-care through meditation, breathing exercises, and the physical activities, treating emotional suffering as a universal human condition caused by delusions about the permanence of self” (Bigthink, 2013).
To manage my own mental health issues, I’ve become resilient and learnt coping strategies, but the dream has been to live in the most perfect place where everyone gets on together easily and where people are more supportive of mental health problems. My dream is to live in a place consisting of three main elements, which are “Abundance. Freedom and Peace” (NewScientist, 2016). This is essentially the basis for Utopia, a place which in the most general sense offers the most perfect experiences in life, free from human suffering, free from struggles, and everything working in perfect harmony.
I have become fascinated with the idea of the perfect place, especially after reading the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton. “Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, finds inner peace, love, and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, a utopian lamasery high in the Himalayas in Tibet” (Britannica, 2022). The idea of living in a place where you do not have to suffer and can gain intense pleasure in everything that is available is a dream come true. While this is a book of fiction, I found it a very interesting read. Another thing is that I had never really understood or learnt about utopianism before. Then after researching the subject, it was like I had opened a giant box of chocolates, with the prospect of becoming sick if I ate too many. The subject of utopianism presents a huge field of infinite opportunities.
“Come hither, lads, and hearken, for a tale there is to tell, Of the wonderful days a-coming, when all shall be better than well” (Morris, 1910:180).
1. Introduction
This essay discusses some key features of ‘utopias,’ and then considerers these in more detail with reference to contemporary art. The essay looks at the so called tip of the iceberg of utopia, since the topic is huge and cannot be fully addressed here. The essay was inspired by James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon (Hilton, 1933), where a small group of people were taken to a beautiful utopian lamasery called Shangri-La. The essay was also inspired by William Morris’s beauty loving/socialist outlook on life.
Prior to carrying out any research this question came to mind:
“What Ceramic Art is required in a Utopian society?”
This question begs a further question about what a utopian society actually is. In answering this question other related topics come to mind:
> What is Utopia about and what visions have been put forward by utopian writers,
> What is utopianism, especially the ideology and experiences which lead to a fulfilling life,
> In relation to the bridge between Utopia and Utopianism how do people interact with their environment and what communities, real or imagined have come close to being utopian,
> In connecting the subject of Utopianism with Contemporary Art, in particular ceramics; what is important about being creative in utopia, and
> What conclusions have emerged from carrying out this research?
In the last 200 years many people have influenced utopian thinking, some of those people are mentioned in this essay but William Morris is quoted more than others. His fictional novel called ‘News From Nowhere’, based in London (Morris, 1890), and his paper called “The Socialist Ideal” (Morris, 1890) has prompted many of the discussions in this essay because it links the concepts of the role of creative art with how to live well.
Utopia is a subject very much connected with a location, such as home, town or city. Communities like New Lanark, in Scotland and Basildon, in Essex have at some point been considered as a utopia. There have been attempts to create long lasting utopias throughout the world, some of which have been linked to the making of functional ceramics (rather than being just decorative), such as Inca Pottery (Ticket Macho Picchu, 2023). In Britain, in the 21st Century, we can find many examples of intentional communities that may be considered utopian, such as the Bruderhof community in East Sussex, whose primary source of income comes from manufacturing Community Playthings. The Friars, in Aylesford, Kent, is a Carmelite community (dating back to the 13th century) that has had a commercial pottery on the site since 1954. It closed in the mid-1980s but was opened again in 1999 as Aylesford School of Ceramics (Aylesford Pottery, 2022). Therefore in some communities there has been an association between ceramic art and utopian ways of life.
It is rare for everyone to be satisfied (Ward, 1974:35) but most people think of idealistic ways of living. A number of communities have been created based on an ideology of how to live well. Utopia has often found expression through Intentional Communities (Questenberry, 2017). In the 21st Century, especially from 1968, people have created intentional communities worldwide, such as the experimental township of Auroville in India (1968), or Cedar Moon, Oregon, USA (2004). A definition of intentional community comes from Diggers & Dreamers, which is “The belief of a group of people that by living in the same locality and under the same government their desires can be satisfied” (Coates, 2021:4). So, particularly in the last 55 years there have been a growing number of communities established which are based on an ideology of how to live well.
Looking outside of these communities we have in the Western world made some progress towards utopian ideals. Most people are living with increasing plenty and liberty, peace has increased worldwide and there have been advances in science and living standards (NewScientist, 2016). However, there is a counter argument that developments in science and technology in the West have led to increasing breakdown of communities and poor physical and mental health (Dyopath, 2019), as well as environmental destruction. So it is debatable whether utopian ideals have become more reachable or receded.
Ideas around Utopia were extensively written about during the 20th century. Some theorists have suggested utopianism has come to an end but utopias are still being written and intentional communities founded (Routledge, 2022), especially in the UK (Coates 2021).
2. Utopia – The Place
Humans have many ways of defining pleasure and where we find pleasure another person may spoil it for us. According to Ward, people who propose utopias usually imagine themselves as the rulers and the rest of us as the ruled and who wants to feel like a slave in someone else’s utopia? (Ward, 1974:9). This suggests the need for a clear definition of Utopia.
Utopia Definitions
Utopia may be:
1. “A word coined by Thomas More in 1516, as a Greek pun in Latin between ‘ou topos’, or no place, and ‘eu topos’, or good place” (British Library, 2022a),
2. A non-existent society described in considerable detail and normally located in time and space.” (Sargent, 2020:6),
3. A “socio-political subgenre of science fiction’” (Suvin 1979:61),
4. A reaction to the catastrophes of the present century, and not a revival of the ideals of the past (Claeys, 2020:11),
5. An imaginary good place (Carey, 1999:xi).
For the purposes of this essay Utopia will be used to mean good place or paradise.
Utopia has fallen in and out of favour at different times. It is often idealistic, impossible to achieve, but something to hope for and work towards to improve the lives of humans and the world around them. Books and essays on utopia have been written by academics as a response to past events at the time they were written. Life quickly moves on and the ideals of the past sometimes do not remain relevant, so the utopian story can become outdated. Utopian (good place) and dystopian (bad place) stories appear regularly in Science Fiction fantasy and some such as ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (Dick, 1968) and Cloud Atlas (Mitchell, 2004) have been made into popular films.
Utopia – How Should We Live?
Thomas More’s Utopia
In 1516 Thomas More (1477 - 1535) came up with the term Utopia as the title for his book. “In Utopia there is no poverty, no exploitation, no luxury, no idle rich” (Carey: 1999:38). More said that all goods should be shared equally, and private property should be abolished to prevent the situation where “a few men divide up everything amongst themselves, leaving everyone else in poverty” (Nobel, 2009:22). More's book imagines a complex, self-contained community set on an island, in which people share a common culture and way of life (British Library, 2022a). Despite ‘progress’, we continue to dream and hope for a better future, just as we have for centuries (British Library, 2022b).
Many might describe utopia as a perfect place, but in More’s case that is not true. For More, humans are inevitably sinful and require very strict law and severe punishment, such as slavery for leaving town without permission. Utopia describes a better society than existed in 1516, but it is not perfect (Sargent, 2016:190).
Sargent concluded that since More’s Utopia in 1516, some utopian ideas have been adopted while others have been suppressed and suggests we should “keep reading utopias, keep hoping, and keep trying to bring about positive change” (Sargent, 2016:191).
Some of the ideas adopted in Europe since More wrote Utopia are:
> People living in communities with common interests,
> People being allowed to freely worship in their own way,
> Children compulsorily attending school,
> Legal systems with laws and penalties, and
> Governments attempting to regulate economies to manage the excesses of wealth and poverty (SparkNotes, 2005).
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels’ Society
It’s good to touch on Karl Marx’s (1818-1883) view that change was needed in about 1847 to make work (in a communist society) more pleasurable. The problem at the time was this:
“For as soon as the division of labour comes into being, each man has a particular, exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape. He is a hunter, a fisherman, a shepherd, or a critical critic, and must remain so if he does not want to lose his means of livelihood” (Marx and Engles, 1848).
Karl Marx dedicated his life to activism, communism and helping the ‘working man’. Later in life he lived in poor conditions in London until his death in 1883.
Guilds in medieval Europe could be classified into two types: “craft guilds and merchant guilds” (Richardson, 2010). Craft guilds were made up of craftsmen and artisans in the same occupation, such as skilled potters, carpenters, bakers, weavers and masons. Members of guilds were allowed a greater degree of control over the working conditions than the proletariat who succeeded them.
Marx and Engels refer to artisans in relation to those economic systems that preceded capitalism. Marx suggested artisans were threatened by the bourgeoisie’s industrial innovations, which reduced work into more and more mechanical, repetitive and low-skilled tasks. “Modern industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrialist capitalist” (Marx and Engles, 1848:18).
William Morris’ Utopian Place
There is probably more to be gained by studying William Morris when thinking about artwork and utopia. William Morris was in the business of making artwork for everyone.
When Morris wrote ‘News from Nowhere’, around 1890, he believed that socialism could involve an abolition of private ownership of the means to make things (which was Karl Marx’s idea), sparse urbanisation (no high-rise buildings), no central authority, no courts, no jails, classless, and with no social institutions, schools or divorce, and obtaining things basically for free (not involving a money exchange) but with “the idea of commons-based production” (Aeon, 2018).
Morris imagined a world in which human happiness and economic activity coincided and labour should go beyond making ends meet. “Unalienated labour” creates happiness for all (consumer and creator) but modern capitalism in contrast, created a treadmill in which this aspect of work has been lost (Aeon, 2018).
Other Utopias Throughout History
It’s difficult to achieve utopia but those who study the Bronze Age Indus civilisation say it met these conditions for 800 years, making it our best candidate for a real-life utopia (NewScientist, 2016).
Perhaps the Burnt Village at Tell Sabi Abyad (‘Mound of the White Boy’) in Northan Syria, was at one point a utopia. It was an innovative area for the manufacture of ceramics. Thousands of artefacts, dated from around 5200 B.C. were recovered from burned houses, including ceramic and stone vessels, flint and implements made from obsidian, ground stone tools, human (women) and animal figurines, labrets, axes, personal ornaments and hundreds of sealings (Akkermans, 1995).
There is mention of a new utopian city (New Jerusalem) by John in the last book of the Bible (Revelation 21).
Owen, born in 1771, created the village of New Lanark in response to “the ‘dark santanic mills’ of the new industrial age”. He wanted to try and turn their power to better use and create utopia on Earth (Ward, 1975:27).
Paul Gauguin (the painter) “spent his life travelling in search of utopia” (Ward, 1975:47) and decided Tahiti was the closest he could get to being in Utopia. In September 1901 he had a house made at Marquesas, Tahiti and then died there just two years later.
The Burning Man - A Temporary Utopia
Thomas More and William Morris’ utopian ideals seemingly contain the ambition to establish communities that last a long time. They are also viewed as things that in reality will never happen. However, creating utopia’s that last a short time is possible. Temporary utopias, or temporary autonomous zones (TAZ), “allow for individuals to enact their natural utopian tendencies, without worrying about following a specific utopian model” (Hall, 2015). The TAZ is like an uprising that does not engage directly with the State (Bey, 1985), with examples including the Rainbow Gatherings and The Burning Man.
At the Burning Man event (the organisers do not regard it as a festival) anything related to art can happen. It has unfortunately been criticised as a sort of affluent white person’s playground (Steinhauer, 2018:50), but it is still very popular. Guided by ten principles that appear to be based on utopian ideals (formed by organisers in the late 1980s) Burning Man brings together tens of thousands of people including artists, makers, and community organizers who co-create artwork, happenings, and local initiatives. Community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance come together, providing year-round support, connection, education, and grants to an ever-growing network of regional Burning Man communities in more than 40 US states and 35 countries (Burning Man, 2023). At the end of the event nothing is left behind and people leave having had an experience of being in utopia.
What Does Your Utopia Really Look Like?
People have their own ideas of the perfect way to live. One person might like to live on their own, in an isolated place away from the distractions of other people. For example Dylan Thomas focused his energy on writing in and around his Boathouse in Wales. Thomas inspired Roald Dahl to spend his days writing in a shed in his garden (The History Press, 2023). On the other hand some people would hate being isolated, preferring a fast-paced and stressful city life with the conveniences of services and facilities, good public transport, cultural diversity and vibrant communities; basically having a varied social life (Jagannath, 2020). Then there are people who prefer the adventures of sailing, like the privateer Alexander Selkirk (BBC, 2014). People have very different minds about the ideal way of living. Perhaps, in the 21st Century, some post-millennials would be happy living on a deserted island as long as they could use their smartphones! Some might prefer a utilitarian hedonistic way of life. John Stuart Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on a principle where "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness (Mill, 2009:14).
3. Utopianism – the Thinking Behind the Place
Our enjoyment of life doesn’t just depend on where we live. Enjoyment is also about asking the question ‘how do I want to live?’ (Ward, 1975:114).
Utopia maybe regarded as a dream, impossible to achieve, or impossible to sustain even if people believe they have created Utopia for themselves. Utopia is a physical place whilst Utopianism is the thinking behind the place, the thinking behind the search for the place, the imagining of the place, or the drive toward certain kinds of change.
Some definitions of utopianism:
1. The belief that everything can be perfect, often in a way that does not seem to be realistic or practical” (Oxford, 2023).
2. A futile attempt to escape from immanent reality (Nobel, 2009:13).
3. The general label for a number of different ways of dreaming or thinking about, describing or attempting to create a better society (Routledge, 2022).
4. A disposition to embrace the vision of an alternative society from which present social evils have been eradicated and in which there is complete human fulfilment (Taylor, 2018).
5. Social dreaming - the dreams and nightmares that concern the ways in which groups of people arrange their lives and which usually envision a radically different society than the one in which the dreamers live. But not all are radical, for some people at any time dream of something basically familiar (Sargent, 1994).
Ultimately in utopia, people are following their utopian impulse, “the desire to improve the external world, to set wrong things right.” (Maslow, 1970:285).
Utopia is not exactly a physical place. Loss of belief in universal values and the disbelief in progress came in the 20th century with early Modernism. In Modernism there was growth of industry and technology, which didn't really make people happy. (Bigthink, 2021).
It is possible that many intentional communities (and temporary utopias) consider themselves as utopian. If people regard themselves as being happy, and living in a place they once dreamed about, maybe they are living in a model of utopia. Utopia changes with time and may no longer satisfy the desires it once did.
Utopias ask whether or not the way we live could be improved. Most utopias reflect dissatisfaction with life in the present and point out what is wrong with the way we are now (Sargent, 2010:4).
Karl Marx was against capitalism because the division of labour alienates people from the things they make and their nature as creative human beings. He said that “In a communist society there are no painters but only people who engage in painting among other activities” (Marx and Engels, 1845). This suggests that a person is not necessarily exclusively a ‘ceramicist’ in a communist society but someone who engages in making ceramics (Jenkins, 1996:186). But Marx defended consumption, the process of producing and obtaining products. He meant that by producing products, people see the product, gain an appreciation for it and then want to obtain it:
“The object of art, as well as any other product, creates an artistic and beauty enjoying public. Production thus produces not only an object for the individual, but also an individual for the object” (Marx 1904:280).
The production of objects by capitalist workers creates consumers. Clever product placement and advertising drives consumerism. People may mindlessly buy artwork without thought, possibly devaluing the artwork.
Karl Marx suggested capitalists extract ‘surplus value’ from the workers and enjoy monetary profits. “Marx condemned capitalism as a system that alienates the masses”. His reasoning was “although workers produce things for the market, market forces, not workers, control things. People are required to work for capitalists who have full control over the means of production and maintain power in the workplace.” Work, he said, “becomes degrading, monotonous, and suitable for machines rather than for free, creative people” (Prychitko, 2023).
Marx’s theories about alienation, describe how capitalist societies made workers feel isolated and unworthy (which William Morris was also concerned about). Marx had an ambiguous and changing attitude toward utopianism and never suggested he was utopian (Paden, 2002). Scholars may say Marx's utopianism lay in the aim of abolishing the distinction between state and civil society and he assumed harmony would emerge as a result of that change. For most of Marx’s career he did not focus on the visual arts like Morris. In Morris’ socialist utopia (as Marx would call it) people would feel empowered and valuable members of communities working for pleasure and taking pride in their work.
William Morris and The Guild Labour
Like Karl Marx, William Morris referred to the Guild Labour of the Middle Ages and anti-capitalism in his essays and talks, although he takes on a different view.
In November 1883, William Morris spoke at University College, Oxford, to academics on the subject of socialist politics. He talked about the guild labour of the Middle Ages that developed the workman's whole intelligence. Because they were not subject to the pressure of a competitive market, Morris claimed, guild members could "work leisurely, thoughtfully, and creatively". During the Middle Ages, in spite of its grievous material oppression and rigid social hierarchies, a craftsman worked as a person rather than as a machine." Going from the Middle Ages to the modern era, the rise of competitive markets rendered the guild-craft system of labour obsolete (Davis, 2009:217).
William Morris’ vision of a utopian society was where artwork was made for love rather than money. His utopian vision for the world was one in which all forms of labour, even the commonest, might be made attractive. Morris and Marx would probably agree that capitalist institutions drove a wedge between art and work resulting in people being surrounded by ugliness, miserable employment and living in pain (Davis, 2009:214).
George Orwell and Corrupted Socialism
In Animal Farm, by George Orwell, utopia was built on good will, then the pigs took advantage, and it became dystopian. The leading protagonist in Orwell’s story is a pig called Napoleon, based on the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin. The other animals obeyed the pigs trusting them and hoping for a better future. Orwell’s tale is intended to illustrate that challenging capitalism, although justified, can have negative consequences and in this sense is a challenge to the ideas of Marx and to utopian thinkers more broadly. If harmonious group living required an agreed set of rules, who will decide what the rules are and how will they be enforced fairly? Orwell’s parable poses this question to those who wish to create a new and more perfect social order.
4. Utopia and Creativity
An art gallery can be utopian, such that it aims to make people feel good, makes a valuable contribution to society, and staff, members and casual visitors equally can feel they belong to something creative and meaningful. Christian Gether, from ARKEN says that utopias have been based on “pre-defined systems of thought”. At ARKEN, utopia embraces diversity and is open to new opportunities to reflect on the work, encouraging discussion and independent viewpoints, getting everyone to take part in the life of the gallery (ARKEN, 2012:10).
In an ideal society you would expect opportunities to create things. People like to explore and appreciate what they can see. Noam Chomsky said “we’re built to want to do new things, even if they’re not efficient… The joy of creation is something very few people get the opportunity to have in our society: artists get to have it”. It’s exciting to figure out what things are all about (Chomsky, 2013:34).
Although the practice of ceramic art making is seen more as a specialism for hobbyists and as a therapeutic art practice, the human aesthetic need to make things still seems to exist today. Allowing people to physically hold and immerse themselves in the process of making is arguably a basic human need.
In Maslow’s Expanded Hierarchy Of Needs, higher self-fulfilment/growth needs include Self Actualization and Aesthetic needs. Self-actualization needs are about realizing personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences. But before self-actualization needs can be fulfilled, Aesthetic needs come first, which are about appreciation and search for beauty, balance and form, etc (Mcleod 2023). Humans require beautiful imagery or novel and aesthetically pleasing experiences. “In some individuals there is a truly basic aesthetic need; they get sick from ugliness, and are cured by beautiful surroundings” (Maslow, 1970:51).
The need for personal growth and discovery is present throughout a person’s life. For some people, self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art (Mcleod 2023). On the other hand Maslow found, with reference to basic needs, “there are other apparently innately creative people in whom the drive to creativeness seems to be more important than any other counter determinant” (Maslow, 1970:52). In other words a very basic rather than a higher level need.
“Man who works recognises his own product in the World that has actually been transformed by his work” (Kojéve 1989:27). People get a considerable amount of pleasure from creating something with their own hands, serving human pleasure to produce things rather than from the perspective of consumption and utility. The satisfactions of manifesting oneself concretely in the world through manual competence have been known to make a man quiet and easy (Crawford, 2009:15). The benefits come from the process of creating with least concern of making a profit or earning a living from it. The end product, the bespoke, unique, beautiful ceramic artwork serves a different purpose, that being as an item of aesthetic pleasure. People create beauty for beauty’s sake.
William Morris developed his vision of a society in which work, art and nature blend harmoniously (Davis, 2009). Morris was a utopian socialist (Paden, 2002:67). He cared for the working class and most of all was preoccupied with the idea of socialist art. In a series of articles and in his books, Morris attacked capitalist society, where productive labour was not a joy, but torture (Arvatov, 2017:76).
In 1883, Morris was worried about the future of art. He said that “art cannot have real life and growth under the present system of commercialism and profit mongering” (Kelvin, 1992:230). What he meant was that he didn’t like the mass production of things in factories, which reduced opportunities for talented and skilled individuals to produce beautiful and high quality crafted products.
In Morris’ utopian society the means of production are democratically controlled, and people find pleasure in sharing their interests, goals and resources (Aeon, 2018). The pleasure in making things and their usefulness in meeting human needs was important to Morris (Mooers, 2018).
Karl Marx wasn’t against things being made by machine as they made production more efficient and reduced labour required to produce goods. Machines also allowed the people without specialist craft skills to be employable (Marx, 1867:244). William Morris however, believed machines led to a loss of craft skills, as well as a degradation of the quality of goods produced . Morris’s book, News from Nowhere, promoted joyful labour, equality and variety: elements quite at odds with ongoing trends in society (Weinroth 2015:182).
William Morris saw artwork going in one of two directions; one from the socialist perspective and another from a commercial.
1. To the Socialist a house, a knife, a cup, a steam engine, for example, that is made by man and has form, must either be a work of art or destructive to art.
2. The Commercialist (or capitalist), on the other hand, divides 'manufactured articles' into those which are intended as works of art, and are offered for sale in the market as such, and those which have no pretence and could have no pretence to artistic qualities (Morris, 1891:17).
With regards to employment in the UK during the 19th century, Morris was worried that art and pleasure were missing from daily work by ordinary people. He often compared working in the 19th Century with the Middle Ages (Morris, 1891:18).
With regards to the division of wealth in Morris’ time he was concerned with making artworks affordable to poorer members of society. He thought that the poor could only afford art given to them in charity which was of an inferior quality (Morris, 1891:19).
Thinking about the future: we could look to create a utopia by going back to a simpler life where production could have more opportunity to arise from craft activities. But there is a futuristic utopian vision where people have greater leisure time to be creative whilst robots take away the drudgery of work. William Morris died in 1896, long before Karel Čapek (novelist and journalist) came up with the word robot in 1920.
5. What Part Does Ceramic Art Play in Utopianism?
Utopian artwork is the sort of art that makes people feel good, inspiring hope and positivity. It is also the artwork made by people who believe they are making the world a better place as a result of producing the art. Another way to make utopian artwork is to make the invisible visible; the imagined idealistic world produced by artists using multi-media to satisfy the senses and naturally increase the levels of positive feelings.
For example, walking into Olafur Eliasson’s large kaleidoscopes created good feelings and excitement. The artwork takes you to another place, perhaps to the future, or to the past depending on the link you make with happy memories. Everyone sees one another and the surrounding space multiplied in innumerable reflections. Within the kaleidoscope’s inner facade a myriad of prismatic forms and rich interactions of light are created (Eliasson, 2001).
In Morris’ utopia, work was an act of pleasure, not for monetary gain, and the process of making beautiful things an essential feature of working. “A house, a knife, a cup, a steam engine, or what not, anything, … that is made by man and has form, must either be a work of art or destructive to art.” (Morris, 1891:17). Morris believed everything made by a craftsperson in the Middle Ages was made well and was also often beautiful (Morris, 1891:18).
In many respects the ideological utopian new towns of Britain have lost their appeal (Grey, 2020). Town centres are no longer the main place to obtain everything you need. Perhaps we are more inclined towards Morris’ Utopia, such that the difference between town and country will grow less and less (Morris, 1890:44).
Research has revealed there have been communities throughout the world that concentrated their efforts on pottery production. The evidence comes from burial graves or from a large collection of pottery buried within the boundaries of community living areas. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence to suggest that some bronze–age communities specialised in the process of making ceramics. It was particularly evident that during the Bronze Age (3300 BC – 1200 BC) some communities successfully developed skills in pot making and ceramics (Percival, 2020). In China there was the manufacture of porcelain, in many forms. Throughout the Middle East there has been the manufacture of pots. In south-America, the Inca civilisation made beautiful decorative pottery with skills inherited from Andean cultures.
In the UK since about 1975, 32,000 jobs have been cut from the ceramics factories of the Potteries. Employees are mostly needed in technology and service sectors rather than manufacturing. (Ridge 2002). It’s cheaper to import pottery into the UK than it is to make it locally. Specialised, bespoke pottery is still made in the UK today but in much smaller quantities, where people are looking for something original and willing to pay for the extra price of it being made locally (Canterbury Pottery, 2023). Sadly the process I have described is further evidence of the ongoing negative impact of capitalism and globalisation.
6. Conclusion
Since Thomas More came up with the word Utopia a lot of research has been done, and literature written, based around the concept. However, it’s the experiences of being in places, how people have got along with each other, and the consideration of William Morris’ view on Socialism, which have been most relevant to this essay. Art galleries like ARKEN have carefully considered utopianism in the making of the gallery experience. Artists like Olafur Eliasson, who consider utopianism when making artwork, and events like The Burning Man are popular because people are realising the utopian experience is a relief from everyday drudgery.
With reference to the question of ‘What Ceramic Art is required in a utopian society’, it is difficult to say if the object, the beautifully formed and decorated ceramic artwork, is required in Utopia at all. However, the process of making ceramic artwork and other such creative endeavours is important. It comes into the category of making something with your hands (Crawford, 2009). Learning to mould things out of clay with your hands is therapeutic and a valuable skill. People get a feeling of joy when taking part in cultural activities. Art and health programmes led by artists (and musicians) can deliver health benefits through participatory arts programmes and arts engagement in everyday life (Mental Health Foundation, 2019).
Bringing people together with shared interests in art to make beautiful things, while making people feel hopeful for the future, can be incorporated into the making of ceramic art, but it’s not limited to ceramics. Oscar Wilde said, “if a thing is worth doing, is worth doing well.” Throughout history practical functional objects, made from fired clay and glazed, for use as pots, tableware and tools have been made (Percival, 2020). A purpose for ceramists is to create aesthetically pleasing works of art that have no practical use. Closely engaging with the materiality of clay, finding out its limitations and potentialities, using all your senses to mould and create is very satisfying. It connects people with hope of good things to come like Barceló experiences, that forge “an intimate connection with the earth as a material for his artworks and his body as a tool for creation” (Barceló, 2022). For Barceló, artistic creation is a direct way of relating to the world around him and the ceramics bear the marks of his bodily engagement. By working with clay, people become intimately connected with the world, understanding clay comes from the earth and is transformed into something new. People being able to express themselves through the process of making, sharing that experience with others, to inspire hope and possibilities of a fulfilling future, is the essence of utopianism. Ultimately humans require beautiful images and aesthetically pleasing experiences to live well (Maslow, 1970).
7. Bibliography
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I have been battling with anxiety and depression for a long time. I have first-hand experience of the Western approach to dealing with mental health problems, which is largely dependent on pharmaceuticals and counselling. Although I am grateful that I have never been locked in an asylum, I wonder if the Eastern approaches, particularly Chinese, being less scientific and more holistic, would be more beneficial. In my utopia, I imagine having an infinite amount of money. My thoughts about money include believing that spending the money I think I have, which I may not actually have, is necessary in order to live a comfortable and happy life. (This is probably false thinking!). I have financial problems because I can spend irresponsibly depending on my mood swings. I’m also not good at keeping track of time.
“For several thousand years, Eastern approaches have focused on proactive, self-directed self-care through meditation, breathing exercises, and the physical activities, treating emotional suffering as a universal human condition caused by delusions about the permanence of self” (Bigthink, 2013).
To manage my own mental health issues, I’ve become resilient and learnt coping strategies, but the dream has been to live in the most perfect place where everyone gets on together easily and where people are more supportive of mental health problems. My dream is to live in a place consisting of three main elements, which are “Abundance. Freedom and Peace” (NewScientist, 2016). This is essentially the basis for Utopia, a place which in the most general sense offers the most perfect experiences in life, free from human suffering, free from struggles, and everything working in perfect harmony.
I have become fascinated with the idea of the perfect place, especially after reading the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by James Hilton. “Hugh Conway, a veteran member of the British diplomatic service, finds inner peace, love, and a sense of purpose in Shangri-La, a utopian lamasery high in the Himalayas in Tibet” (Britannica, 2022). The idea of living in a place where you do not have to suffer and can gain intense pleasure in everything that is available is a dream come true. While this is a book of fiction, I found it a very interesting read. Another thing is that I had never really understood or learnt about utopianism before. Then after researching the subject, it was like I had opened a giant box of chocolates, with the prospect of becoming sick if I ate too many. The subject of utopianism presents a huge field of infinite opportunities.
“Come hither, lads, and hearken, for a tale there is to tell, Of the wonderful days a-coming, when all shall be better than well” (Morris, 1910:180).
1. Introduction
This essay discusses some key features of ‘utopias,’ and then considerers these in more detail with reference to contemporary art. The essay looks at the so called tip of the iceberg of utopia, since the topic is huge and cannot be fully addressed here. The essay was inspired by James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon (Hilton, 1933), where a small group of people were taken to a beautiful utopian lamasery called Shangri-La. The essay was also inspired by William Morris’s beauty loving/socialist outlook on life.
Prior to carrying out any research this question came to mind:
“What Ceramic Art is required in a Utopian society?”
This question begs a further question about what a utopian society actually is. In answering this question other related topics come to mind:
> What is Utopia about and what visions have been put forward by utopian writers,
> What is utopianism, especially the ideology and experiences which lead to a fulfilling life,
> In relation to the bridge between Utopia and Utopianism how do people interact with their environment and what communities, real or imagined have come close to being utopian,
> In connecting the subject of Utopianism with Contemporary Art, in particular ceramics; what is important about being creative in utopia, and
> What conclusions have emerged from carrying out this research?
In the last 200 years many people have influenced utopian thinking, some of those people are mentioned in this essay but William Morris is quoted more than others. His fictional novel called ‘News From Nowhere’, based in London (Morris, 1890), and his paper called “The Socialist Ideal” (Morris, 1890) has prompted many of the discussions in this essay because it links the concepts of the role of creative art with how to live well.
Utopia is a subject very much connected with a location, such as home, town or city. Communities like New Lanark, in Scotland and Basildon, in Essex have at some point been considered as a utopia. There have been attempts to create long lasting utopias throughout the world, some of which have been linked to the making of functional ceramics (rather than being just decorative), such as Inca Pottery (Ticket Macho Picchu, 2023). In Britain, in the 21st Century, we can find many examples of intentional communities that may be considered utopian, such as the Bruderhof community in East Sussex, whose primary source of income comes from manufacturing Community Playthings. The Friars, in Aylesford, Kent, is a Carmelite community (dating back to the 13th century) that has had a commercial pottery on the site since 1954. It closed in the mid-1980s but was opened again in 1999 as Aylesford School of Ceramics (Aylesford Pottery, 2022). Therefore in some communities there has been an association between ceramic art and utopian ways of life.
It is rare for everyone to be satisfied (Ward, 1974:35) but most people think of idealistic ways of living. A number of communities have been created based on an ideology of how to live well. Utopia has often found expression through Intentional Communities (Questenberry, 2017). In the 21st Century, especially from 1968, people have created intentional communities worldwide, such as the experimental township of Auroville in India (1968), or Cedar Moon, Oregon, USA (2004). A definition of intentional community comes from Diggers & Dreamers, which is “The belief of a group of people that by living in the same locality and under the same government their desires can be satisfied” (Coates, 2021:4). So, particularly in the last 55 years there have been a growing number of communities established which are based on an ideology of how to live well.
Looking outside of these communities we have in the Western world made some progress towards utopian ideals. Most people are living with increasing plenty and liberty, peace has increased worldwide and there have been advances in science and living standards (NewScientist, 2016). However, there is a counter argument that developments in science and technology in the West have led to increasing breakdown of communities and poor physical and mental health (Dyopath, 2019), as well as environmental destruction. So it is debatable whether utopian ideals have become more reachable or receded.
Ideas around Utopia were extensively written about during the 20th century. Some theorists have suggested utopianism has come to an end but utopias are still being written and intentional communities founded (Routledge, 2022), especially in the UK (Coates 2021).
2. Utopia – The Place
Humans have many ways of defining pleasure and where we find pleasure another person may spoil it for us. According to Ward, people who propose utopias usually imagine themselves as the rulers and the rest of us as the ruled and who wants to feel like a slave in someone else’s utopia? (Ward, 1974:9). This suggests the need for a clear definition of Utopia.
Utopia Definitions
Utopia may be:
1. “A word coined by Thomas More in 1516, as a Greek pun in Latin between ‘ou topos’, or no place, and ‘eu topos’, or good place” (British Library, 2022a),
2. A non-existent society described in considerable detail and normally located in time and space.” (Sargent, 2020:6),
3. A “socio-political subgenre of science fiction’” (Suvin 1979:61),
4. A reaction to the catastrophes of the present century, and not a revival of the ideals of the past (Claeys, 2020:11),
5. An imaginary good place (Carey, 1999:xi).
For the purposes of this essay Utopia will be used to mean good place or paradise.
Utopia has fallen in and out of favour at different times. It is often idealistic, impossible to achieve, but something to hope for and work towards to improve the lives of humans and the world around them. Books and essays on utopia have been written by academics as a response to past events at the time they were written. Life quickly moves on and the ideals of the past sometimes do not remain relevant, so the utopian story can become outdated. Utopian (good place) and dystopian (bad place) stories appear regularly in Science Fiction fantasy and some such as ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (Dick, 1968) and Cloud Atlas (Mitchell, 2004) have been made into popular films.
Utopia – How Should We Live?
Thomas More’s Utopia
In 1516 Thomas More (1477 - 1535) came up with the term Utopia as the title for his book. “In Utopia there is no poverty, no exploitation, no luxury, no idle rich” (Carey: 1999:38). More said that all goods should be shared equally, and private property should be abolished to prevent the situation where “a few men divide up everything amongst themselves, leaving everyone else in poverty” (Nobel, 2009:22). More's book imagines a complex, self-contained community set on an island, in which people share a common culture and way of life (British Library, 2022a). Despite ‘progress’, we continue to dream and hope for a better future, just as we have for centuries (British Library, 2022b).
Many might describe utopia as a perfect place, but in More’s case that is not true. For More, humans are inevitably sinful and require very strict law and severe punishment, such as slavery for leaving town without permission. Utopia describes a better society than existed in 1516, but it is not perfect (Sargent, 2016:190).
Sargent concluded that since More’s Utopia in 1516, some utopian ideas have been adopted while others have been suppressed and suggests we should “keep reading utopias, keep hoping, and keep trying to bring about positive change” (Sargent, 2016:191).
Some of the ideas adopted in Europe since More wrote Utopia are:
> People living in communities with common interests,
> People being allowed to freely worship in their own way,
> Children compulsorily attending school,
> Legal systems with laws and penalties, and
> Governments attempting to regulate economies to manage the excesses of wealth and poverty (SparkNotes, 2005).
Karl Marx and Frederick Engels’ Society
It’s good to touch on Karl Marx’s (1818-1883) view that change was needed in about 1847 to make work (in a communist society) more pleasurable. The problem at the time was this:
“For as soon as the division of labour comes into being, each man has a particular, exclusive sphere of activity, which is forced upon him and from which he cannot escape. He is a hunter, a fisherman, a shepherd, or a critical critic, and must remain so if he does not want to lose his means of livelihood” (Marx and Engles, 1848).
Karl Marx dedicated his life to activism, communism and helping the ‘working man’. Later in life he lived in poor conditions in London until his death in 1883.
Guilds in medieval Europe could be classified into two types: “craft guilds and merchant guilds” (Richardson, 2010). Craft guilds were made up of craftsmen and artisans in the same occupation, such as skilled potters, carpenters, bakers, weavers and masons. Members of guilds were allowed a greater degree of control over the working conditions than the proletariat who succeeded them.
Marx and Engels refer to artisans in relation to those economic systems that preceded capitalism. Marx suggested artisans were threatened by the bourgeoisie’s industrial innovations, which reduced work into more and more mechanical, repetitive and low-skilled tasks. “Modern industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal master into the great factory of the industrialist capitalist” (Marx and Engles, 1848:18).
William Morris’ Utopian Place
There is probably more to be gained by studying William Morris when thinking about artwork and utopia. William Morris was in the business of making artwork for everyone.
When Morris wrote ‘News from Nowhere’, around 1890, he believed that socialism could involve an abolition of private ownership of the means to make things (which was Karl Marx’s idea), sparse urbanisation (no high-rise buildings), no central authority, no courts, no jails, classless, and with no social institutions, schools or divorce, and obtaining things basically for free (not involving a money exchange) but with “the idea of commons-based production” (Aeon, 2018).
Morris imagined a world in which human happiness and economic activity coincided and labour should go beyond making ends meet. “Unalienated labour” creates happiness for all (consumer and creator) but modern capitalism in contrast, created a treadmill in which this aspect of work has been lost (Aeon, 2018).
Other Utopias Throughout History
It’s difficult to achieve utopia but those who study the Bronze Age Indus civilisation say it met these conditions for 800 years, making it our best candidate for a real-life utopia (NewScientist, 2016).
Perhaps the Burnt Village at Tell Sabi Abyad (‘Mound of the White Boy’) in Northan Syria, was at one point a utopia. It was an innovative area for the manufacture of ceramics. Thousands of artefacts, dated from around 5200 B.C. were recovered from burned houses, including ceramic and stone vessels, flint and implements made from obsidian, ground stone tools, human (women) and animal figurines, labrets, axes, personal ornaments and hundreds of sealings (Akkermans, 1995).
There is mention of a new utopian city (New Jerusalem) by John in the last book of the Bible (Revelation 21).
Owen, born in 1771, created the village of New Lanark in response to “the ‘dark santanic mills’ of the new industrial age”. He wanted to try and turn their power to better use and create utopia on Earth (Ward, 1975:27).
Paul Gauguin (the painter) “spent his life travelling in search of utopia” (Ward, 1975:47) and decided Tahiti was the closest he could get to being in Utopia. In September 1901 he had a house made at Marquesas, Tahiti and then died there just two years later.
The Burning Man - A Temporary Utopia
Thomas More and William Morris’ utopian ideals seemingly contain the ambition to establish communities that last a long time. They are also viewed as things that in reality will never happen. However, creating utopia’s that last a short time is possible. Temporary utopias, or temporary autonomous zones (TAZ), “allow for individuals to enact their natural utopian tendencies, without worrying about following a specific utopian model” (Hall, 2015). The TAZ is like an uprising that does not engage directly with the State (Bey, 1985), with examples including the Rainbow Gatherings and The Burning Man.
At the Burning Man event (the organisers do not regard it as a festival) anything related to art can happen. It has unfortunately been criticised as a sort of affluent white person’s playground (Steinhauer, 2018:50), but it is still very popular. Guided by ten principles that appear to be based on utopian ideals (formed by organisers in the late 1980s) Burning Man brings together tens of thousands of people including artists, makers, and community organizers who co-create artwork, happenings, and local initiatives. Community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance come together, providing year-round support, connection, education, and grants to an ever-growing network of regional Burning Man communities in more than 40 US states and 35 countries (Burning Man, 2023). At the end of the event nothing is left behind and people leave having had an experience of being in utopia.
What Does Your Utopia Really Look Like?
People have their own ideas of the perfect way to live. One person might like to live on their own, in an isolated place away from the distractions of other people. For example Dylan Thomas focused his energy on writing in and around his Boathouse in Wales. Thomas inspired Roald Dahl to spend his days writing in a shed in his garden (The History Press, 2023). On the other hand some people would hate being isolated, preferring a fast-paced and stressful city life with the conveniences of services and facilities, good public transport, cultural diversity and vibrant communities; basically having a varied social life (Jagannath, 2020). Then there are people who prefer the adventures of sailing, like the privateer Alexander Selkirk (BBC, 2014). People have very different minds about the ideal way of living. Perhaps, in the 21st Century, some post-millennials would be happy living on a deserted island as long as they could use their smartphones! Some might prefer a utilitarian hedonistic way of life. John Stuart Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on a principle where "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness (Mill, 2009:14).
3. Utopianism – the Thinking Behind the Place
Our enjoyment of life doesn’t just depend on where we live. Enjoyment is also about asking the question ‘how do I want to live?’ (Ward, 1975:114).
Utopia maybe regarded as a dream, impossible to achieve, or impossible to sustain even if people believe they have created Utopia for themselves. Utopia is a physical place whilst Utopianism is the thinking behind the place, the thinking behind the search for the place, the imagining of the place, or the drive toward certain kinds of change.
Some definitions of utopianism:
1. The belief that everything can be perfect, often in a way that does not seem to be realistic or practical” (Oxford, 2023).
2. A futile attempt to escape from immanent reality (Nobel, 2009:13).
3. The general label for a number of different ways of dreaming or thinking about, describing or attempting to create a better society (Routledge, 2022).
4. A disposition to embrace the vision of an alternative society from which present social evils have been eradicated and in which there is complete human fulfilment (Taylor, 2018).
5. Social dreaming - the dreams and nightmares that concern the ways in which groups of people arrange their lives and which usually envision a radically different society than the one in which the dreamers live. But not all are radical, for some people at any time dream of something basically familiar (Sargent, 1994).
Ultimately in utopia, people are following their utopian impulse, “the desire to improve the external world, to set wrong things right.” (Maslow, 1970:285).
Utopia is not exactly a physical place. Loss of belief in universal values and the disbelief in progress came in the 20th century with early Modernism. In Modernism there was growth of industry and technology, which didn't really make people happy. (Bigthink, 2021).
It is possible that many intentional communities (and temporary utopias) consider themselves as utopian. If people regard themselves as being happy, and living in a place they once dreamed about, maybe they are living in a model of utopia. Utopia changes with time and may no longer satisfy the desires it once did.
Utopias ask whether or not the way we live could be improved. Most utopias reflect dissatisfaction with life in the present and point out what is wrong with the way we are now (Sargent, 2010:4).
Karl Marx was against capitalism because the division of labour alienates people from the things they make and their nature as creative human beings. He said that “In a communist society there are no painters but only people who engage in painting among other activities” (Marx and Engels, 1845). This suggests that a person is not necessarily exclusively a ‘ceramicist’ in a communist society but someone who engages in making ceramics (Jenkins, 1996:186). But Marx defended consumption, the process of producing and obtaining products. He meant that by producing products, people see the product, gain an appreciation for it and then want to obtain it:
“The object of art, as well as any other product, creates an artistic and beauty enjoying public. Production thus produces not only an object for the individual, but also an individual for the object” (Marx 1904:280).
The production of objects by capitalist workers creates consumers. Clever product placement and advertising drives consumerism. People may mindlessly buy artwork without thought, possibly devaluing the artwork.
Karl Marx suggested capitalists extract ‘surplus value’ from the workers and enjoy monetary profits. “Marx condemned capitalism as a system that alienates the masses”. His reasoning was “although workers produce things for the market, market forces, not workers, control things. People are required to work for capitalists who have full control over the means of production and maintain power in the workplace.” Work, he said, “becomes degrading, monotonous, and suitable for machines rather than for free, creative people” (Prychitko, 2023).
Marx’s theories about alienation, describe how capitalist societies made workers feel isolated and unworthy (which William Morris was also concerned about). Marx had an ambiguous and changing attitude toward utopianism and never suggested he was utopian (Paden, 2002). Scholars may say Marx's utopianism lay in the aim of abolishing the distinction between state and civil society and he assumed harmony would emerge as a result of that change. For most of Marx’s career he did not focus on the visual arts like Morris. In Morris’ socialist utopia (as Marx would call it) people would feel empowered and valuable members of communities working for pleasure and taking pride in their work.
William Morris and The Guild Labour
Like Karl Marx, William Morris referred to the Guild Labour of the Middle Ages and anti-capitalism in his essays and talks, although he takes on a different view.
In November 1883, William Morris spoke at University College, Oxford, to academics on the subject of socialist politics. He talked about the guild labour of the Middle Ages that developed the workman's whole intelligence. Because they were not subject to the pressure of a competitive market, Morris claimed, guild members could "work leisurely, thoughtfully, and creatively". During the Middle Ages, in spite of its grievous material oppression and rigid social hierarchies, a craftsman worked as a person rather than as a machine." Going from the Middle Ages to the modern era, the rise of competitive markets rendered the guild-craft system of labour obsolete (Davis, 2009:217).
William Morris’ vision of a utopian society was where artwork was made for love rather than money. His utopian vision for the world was one in which all forms of labour, even the commonest, might be made attractive. Morris and Marx would probably agree that capitalist institutions drove a wedge between art and work resulting in people being surrounded by ugliness, miserable employment and living in pain (Davis, 2009:214).
George Orwell and Corrupted Socialism
In Animal Farm, by George Orwell, utopia was built on good will, then the pigs took advantage, and it became dystopian. The leading protagonist in Orwell’s story is a pig called Napoleon, based on the Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin. The other animals obeyed the pigs trusting them and hoping for a better future. Orwell’s tale is intended to illustrate that challenging capitalism, although justified, can have negative consequences and in this sense is a challenge to the ideas of Marx and to utopian thinkers more broadly. If harmonious group living required an agreed set of rules, who will decide what the rules are and how will they be enforced fairly? Orwell’s parable poses this question to those who wish to create a new and more perfect social order.
4. Utopia and Creativity
An art gallery can be utopian, such that it aims to make people feel good, makes a valuable contribution to society, and staff, members and casual visitors equally can feel they belong to something creative and meaningful. Christian Gether, from ARKEN says that utopias have been based on “pre-defined systems of thought”. At ARKEN, utopia embraces diversity and is open to new opportunities to reflect on the work, encouraging discussion and independent viewpoints, getting everyone to take part in the life of the gallery (ARKEN, 2012:10).
In an ideal society you would expect opportunities to create things. People like to explore and appreciate what they can see. Noam Chomsky said “we’re built to want to do new things, even if they’re not efficient… The joy of creation is something very few people get the opportunity to have in our society: artists get to have it”. It’s exciting to figure out what things are all about (Chomsky, 2013:34).
Although the practice of ceramic art making is seen more as a specialism for hobbyists and as a therapeutic art practice, the human aesthetic need to make things still seems to exist today. Allowing people to physically hold and immerse themselves in the process of making is arguably a basic human need.
In Maslow’s Expanded Hierarchy Of Needs, higher self-fulfilment/growth needs include Self Actualization and Aesthetic needs. Self-actualization needs are about realizing personal potential, self-fulfilment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences. But before self-actualization needs can be fulfilled, Aesthetic needs come first, which are about appreciation and search for beauty, balance and form, etc (Mcleod 2023). Humans require beautiful imagery or novel and aesthetically pleasing experiences. “In some individuals there is a truly basic aesthetic need; they get sick from ugliness, and are cured by beautiful surroundings” (Maslow, 1970:51).
The need for personal growth and discovery is present throughout a person’s life. For some people, self-actualization can be achieved through creating works of art (Mcleod 2023). On the other hand Maslow found, with reference to basic needs, “there are other apparently innately creative people in whom the drive to creativeness seems to be more important than any other counter determinant” (Maslow, 1970:52). In other words a very basic rather than a higher level need.
“Man who works recognises his own product in the World that has actually been transformed by his work” (Kojéve 1989:27). People get a considerable amount of pleasure from creating something with their own hands, serving human pleasure to produce things rather than from the perspective of consumption and utility. The satisfactions of manifesting oneself concretely in the world through manual competence have been known to make a man quiet and easy (Crawford, 2009:15). The benefits come from the process of creating with least concern of making a profit or earning a living from it. The end product, the bespoke, unique, beautiful ceramic artwork serves a different purpose, that being as an item of aesthetic pleasure. People create beauty for beauty’s sake.
William Morris developed his vision of a society in which work, art and nature blend harmoniously (Davis, 2009). Morris was a utopian socialist (Paden, 2002:67). He cared for the working class and most of all was preoccupied with the idea of socialist art. In a series of articles and in his books, Morris attacked capitalist society, where productive labour was not a joy, but torture (Arvatov, 2017:76).
In 1883, Morris was worried about the future of art. He said that “art cannot have real life and growth under the present system of commercialism and profit mongering” (Kelvin, 1992:230). What he meant was that he didn’t like the mass production of things in factories, which reduced opportunities for talented and skilled individuals to produce beautiful and high quality crafted products.
In Morris’ utopian society the means of production are democratically controlled, and people find pleasure in sharing their interests, goals and resources (Aeon, 2018). The pleasure in making things and their usefulness in meeting human needs was important to Morris (Mooers, 2018).
Karl Marx wasn’t against things being made by machine as they made production more efficient and reduced labour required to produce goods. Machines also allowed the people without specialist craft skills to be employable (Marx, 1867:244). William Morris however, believed machines led to a loss of craft skills, as well as a degradation of the quality of goods produced . Morris’s book, News from Nowhere, promoted joyful labour, equality and variety: elements quite at odds with ongoing trends in society (Weinroth 2015:182).
William Morris saw artwork going in one of two directions; one from the socialist perspective and another from a commercial.
1. To the Socialist a house, a knife, a cup, a steam engine, for example, that is made by man and has form, must either be a work of art or destructive to art.
2. The Commercialist (or capitalist), on the other hand, divides 'manufactured articles' into those which are intended as works of art, and are offered for sale in the market as such, and those which have no pretence and could have no pretence to artistic qualities (Morris, 1891:17).
With regards to employment in the UK during the 19th century, Morris was worried that art and pleasure were missing from daily work by ordinary people. He often compared working in the 19th Century with the Middle Ages (Morris, 1891:18).
With regards to the division of wealth in Morris’ time he was concerned with making artworks affordable to poorer members of society. He thought that the poor could only afford art given to them in charity which was of an inferior quality (Morris, 1891:19).
Thinking about the future: we could look to create a utopia by going back to a simpler life where production could have more opportunity to arise from craft activities. But there is a futuristic utopian vision where people have greater leisure time to be creative whilst robots take away the drudgery of work. William Morris died in 1896, long before Karel Čapek (novelist and journalist) came up with the word robot in 1920.
5. What Part Does Ceramic Art Play in Utopianism?
Utopian artwork is the sort of art that makes people feel good, inspiring hope and positivity. It is also the artwork made by people who believe they are making the world a better place as a result of producing the art. Another way to make utopian artwork is to make the invisible visible; the imagined idealistic world produced by artists using multi-media to satisfy the senses and naturally increase the levels of positive feelings.
For example, walking into Olafur Eliasson’s large kaleidoscopes created good feelings and excitement. The artwork takes you to another place, perhaps to the future, or to the past depending on the link you make with happy memories. Everyone sees one another and the surrounding space multiplied in innumerable reflections. Within the kaleidoscope’s inner facade a myriad of prismatic forms and rich interactions of light are created (Eliasson, 2001).
In Morris’ utopia, work was an act of pleasure, not for monetary gain, and the process of making beautiful things an essential feature of working. “A house, a knife, a cup, a steam engine, or what not, anything, … that is made by man and has form, must either be a work of art or destructive to art.” (Morris, 1891:17). Morris believed everything made by a craftsperson in the Middle Ages was made well and was also often beautiful (Morris, 1891:18).
In many respects the ideological utopian new towns of Britain have lost their appeal (Grey, 2020). Town centres are no longer the main place to obtain everything you need. Perhaps we are more inclined towards Morris’ Utopia, such that the difference between town and country will grow less and less (Morris, 1890:44).
Research has revealed there have been communities throughout the world that concentrated their efforts on pottery production. The evidence comes from burial graves or from a large collection of pottery buried within the boundaries of community living areas. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence to suggest that some bronze–age communities specialised in the process of making ceramics. It was particularly evident that during the Bronze Age (3300 BC – 1200 BC) some communities successfully developed skills in pot making and ceramics (Percival, 2020). In China there was the manufacture of porcelain, in many forms. Throughout the Middle East there has been the manufacture of pots. In south-America, the Inca civilisation made beautiful decorative pottery with skills inherited from Andean cultures.
In the UK since about 1975, 32,000 jobs have been cut from the ceramics factories of the Potteries. Employees are mostly needed in technology and service sectors rather than manufacturing. (Ridge 2002). It’s cheaper to import pottery into the UK than it is to make it locally. Specialised, bespoke pottery is still made in the UK today but in much smaller quantities, where people are looking for something original and willing to pay for the extra price of it being made locally (Canterbury Pottery, 2023). Sadly the process I have described is further evidence of the ongoing negative impact of capitalism and globalisation.
6. Conclusion
Since Thomas More came up with the word Utopia a lot of research has been done, and literature written, based around the concept. However, it’s the experiences of being in places, how people have got along with each other, and the consideration of William Morris’ view on Socialism, which have been most relevant to this essay. Art galleries like ARKEN have carefully considered utopianism in the making of the gallery experience. Artists like Olafur Eliasson, who consider utopianism when making artwork, and events like The Burning Man are popular because people are realising the utopian experience is a relief from everyday drudgery.
With reference to the question of ‘What Ceramic Art is required in a utopian society’, it is difficult to say if the object, the beautifully formed and decorated ceramic artwork, is required in Utopia at all. However, the process of making ceramic artwork and other such creative endeavours is important. It comes into the category of making something with your hands (Crawford, 2009). Learning to mould things out of clay with your hands is therapeutic and a valuable skill. People get a feeling of joy when taking part in cultural activities. Art and health programmes led by artists (and musicians) can deliver health benefits through participatory arts programmes and arts engagement in everyday life (Mental Health Foundation, 2019).
Bringing people together with shared interests in art to make beautiful things, while making people feel hopeful for the future, can be incorporated into the making of ceramic art, but it’s not limited to ceramics. Oscar Wilde said, “if a thing is worth doing, is worth doing well.” Throughout history practical functional objects, made from fired clay and glazed, for use as pots, tableware and tools have been made (Percival, 2020). A purpose for ceramists is to create aesthetically pleasing works of art that have no practical use. Closely engaging with the materiality of clay, finding out its limitations and potentialities, using all your senses to mould and create is very satisfying. It connects people with hope of good things to come like Barceló experiences, that forge “an intimate connection with the earth as a material for his artworks and his body as a tool for creation” (Barceló, 2022). For Barceló, artistic creation is a direct way of relating to the world around him and the ceramics bear the marks of his bodily engagement. By working with clay, people become intimately connected with the world, understanding clay comes from the earth and is transformed into something new. People being able to express themselves through the process of making, sharing that experience with others, to inspire hope and possibilities of a fulfilling future, is the essence of utopianism. Ultimately humans require beautiful images and aesthetically pleasing experiences to live well (Maslow, 1970).
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