Exhibition

Clive Holden utopia suite disco

Cilve Holden installation

What is the connection between utopian philosophy and disco, which is remembered as a subculture that produced a historical moment of pure hedonism?

Echoing coloured disco lights, Utopia Suite Disco’s four groups of moving images are colour-coded: red for passion, green for hope, yellow for fear, and blue for sorrow.
Embedded in each video loop are references to iconic scenes and images from Saturday Night Fever.The multimedia installation Utopia Suite Disco1 creates a contemporary utopian space in which viewers are invited to ponder the question “Does hope beget movement?” The work features a dance floor, a cubical “light hut,” a series of projected images of historical and fictional utopian heroes, and a soundtrack

Holden seems to be reminding us here that hopes are often matched with impending catastrophe, actions with adversity, and that Utopia is mostly built on disaster and runs on hope.

from the essay Utopia Suite Disco|Clive Holden by Vicky Chainey Gagnon