Utopías estéticas: futuribles para una sociedad en crisis

Abstract

In this paper, we present a study that analyzes 'utopian' aesthetic representations as possible responses to the current economic/social crisis. We develop a comparative analysis of historical utopian theories and their possible critical approaches to complex situations of socio-political dominance in the present European and Latin American legacy. The Republic of Plato represents the first Western philosophical analysis for the construction of an Ideal State, a state in which an egalitarian conception of justice prevails. Since then, there have been innumerable publications that have defended the possibility of a more just society against the abuse of the rich and powerful. Thomas More’s Utopia will give name to this type of writings, that defend egalitarian coexistence structures. Sometimes, they are defined as unrealizable social spaces, in our opinion, undoubtedly, they are necessary as futuribles and imaginary in front of situations of social injustice. At the same time, in aesthetics field, we have witnessed the construction of 'small utopias' as visible referents for whole society. As examples, we study artists such as Constant and his New Babylon, Xul Solar, Gyula Kosice, or the collective Archigram, among others.