Utopia Interviews February 2009 Lady: Utopia is just this—I think of distopia.
Lady: Utopia is just this—I think of distopia. I think of all the people I know who
Lady: OK. My idea of utopia is lots of white light, ambient sound and green hills
that cover quasi-uh...glass buildings. If that makes any sense. (Short burst of laugh-
ter.)
Man: Oh...what’s my utopia. That’s interesting. So..it would have to be being sur-
rounded by really amazing people who are committed to working and thinking
hard about how they want to pursue their pursuits--that’s kind of broad and general
I know, but I think that it leaves the bar well-set for everyone’s creativity to come
into play and that it would be able to feed and play with one another in a beauti-
ful environment. So, that would be my utopia. I feel like I had a touch of that at a
summer camp that was near and dear to me oh so long ago. ‘Got to hang out with a
bunch of crazy maniacs in the woods for a for a few years there in my late teenage
years and had a ton of fun. So, I think my concept of utopia is is modeled after that
and I seem to, no matter what my life pursuit is, always be reaching back for that
kind of experience.
Lady: Umm... a castle with cats and a fireplace sounds like a utopia to me. And
everyone’s happy and you have like cognac or something. (Laughter) That sounds
good, ok that’s it.
Man: umm......huh...(laughter)...I don’t know maybe...probably, I guess being
somewhere in the woods. I don’t know how else to expand it. (Laughter)
Boy: My idea of utopia is a skate park and you guys should donate money so we
could get a skate park. Please? We need 350,000 dollars.
Lady: My idea of utopia would be a group of people with...shared goals and shared
ideas of..cultural value and a relatively consistent work ethic I suppose...umm and...
compassion for other human beings. In a nutshell...
have joined communes or the different things looking for utopia—the Menonites
the so-and-so the Summer Hill...It never works. It never works. I think we should
embrace you know difficulties and not look for a perfection in the future. Thanks.
(Laughter.)
Man: Okay- I just talked about my utopia?...Let’s see umm my utopia uh would
definitely involve lots of parades...umm and lots of parade music and...glocken-
spiels, umm gamelan, lots of snare drums, lots of umm contemporary hip-hop trans-
lated into uh marching band arrangements. Umm...and basically a lot of time with
the uh...you know uh set aside for-for parades. Umm and these could happen on
a variety of scales. You could have a neighborhood parade you could have a city
wide parade, you could have a nation wide parade. umm I guess uh sort of similar
to...umm I haven’t been to Mardi Gras, but from what I hear that’s like, um yeah.
So, um you know not replacing the idea of work, but allowing time for um a lot of
uh...I guess social creative activity. Umm so these would not be parades that are you
know dedicated to selling crafts or umm food. They would really be more about the
music and closing down the streets.
Umm...on that subject I think uh on a local level there would be a umm uh car free
perimeter around the the downtown or around the city, anything within reasonable
biking distance for the average person—course there would still be public trans-
portation umm but the streets would be thronged with bicycles of various kinds...
(laughter) Thank you.
Man: Umm...I have lots of idea about utopia, I don’t know...umm. yeah...ok lets
see—cause it always changes too—that uh that utopic feeling, at least, you know.
And everything kinda comes together for that brief—but its very momentary. It’s
that kind of like uh um...it never-never stays—it’s not in one place. It’s not—it’s
never for a time—it always changes time umm yeah umm...yeah umm...yeah it’s
just that that—You know I had it on the plane for an instant you know lookin’ out
the window and looking down at all the mountains with the snow on top and know-
ing that I can’t actually live in this state umm eternally and constantly but it was that
moment of just appreciating that beauty and that: like ‘ok this is right where I’m at
and its ok,’ cause of course you can’t go anywhere on a plane. You have to sit tight
and enjoy what you’ve got, little glass of water, little bag of pretzels, you know that
was nice. That was it there. That’s when it happens.
Man: My utopia is beer.
Man: Ok, my utopic vision...Well I think the element of society that is-uh prevent-
ing the realization of utopia here and now, for me, is the um...Industrialization cre-
ated this umm delegation of duties into umm uh so you’ll specialize in one certain
task that you’re better in makes the whole system more efficient, and allowed us to
produce a lot more but it means our individual tasks became less interesting. We
don’t uh get to build things from scratch with our hands. We don’t get to umm—We
don’t have a large variety in our work we tend to focus on ‘this is your role.’ Fur-
thermore, then we have introduced computers to make things more efficient and it
kind of turned you into ‘I interface with this computer’ and that umm is my sole in-
teraction with production and consumption is through this one unit and I uh I think
it, it just turned us into individual profit centers. We’re trying to make money so that
we can purchase the things that make us happy rather than just the going through
the task of life being fulfilling.
And-uh in my vision of utopia, I guess its kind of this ludite ideal that we could
go back to having diverse lives, where we did a lot of different things to support
ourselves. Umm that included active things and intellectual things umm, but at
least there was this variety umm rather than this specialization...Uh I don’t know
how that could be realized in the 21st century without really just checking out of
society and kind of like becoming some mountain man in the woods or something,
read lots of Tolstoy. (Laughter) So, I guess it’s not a very realistic utopia...(laughter)
Unfortunately.
Man: My idea of utopia is balance and people getting what they need not necessar-
ily what they want.
Lady: My favorite col—my utopia is like my favorite color because my favorite
color’s always changing and one color leads to the next favorite color leads to the
next one and so utopia is like that. It’s where things are constantly changing but
everything is perfect now, but you know it’s going to change in a minute.
MAN: My favorite color is no favorite color. And umm my idea of utopia is a place
where it’s warm all the time. There’s fruit on all the trees...and vegetables growin’
out of everywhere and uh...yeah everybody’s happy...Fruit and vegetables...every-
body’s got food everybody’s got—they’re all warm, you know they’ve got vitamin
D so a lot more happy that way. Yeah, I think its just lots more fruits and vegetables
and everybody’d be happy, and their own spot you know under the tree with some
shade from the sunshine. All those things
Woman: I don’t think I have a-an idea of utopia. That’s so lazy...
Woman: No..mmm bright, something bright. Red that’s my color like ah-astrologi-
cally. Is that good?
Woman: Uh utopia. I-I don’t know, I-I used to think uh it would be like uh...like a
field like I used to think I-I could find like this friendship or something that would
that whenever we would be together it would be this this field like this sunset there
would be weed or something and we would be skipping and rolling around and
laughing. So, I guess that’s the closest thing I thought about as utopia...Yeah.
(Laughter)
Man: Let’s see, my utopia is to live in a world where everyone has an open mind
and uh where the truth prevails and people don’t get caught up in rhetoric and uh—
Cause the thing I find is that people get caught up in rhetoric and get caught up in
maybe something but I think the key is to just keep asking more and more questions,
never stop asking questions. Because that’s what gets us closer to the truth. And I
think that for the most part people are all moral, but they may be misguided so they
make poor decisions. So, I think that I don’t know a big factor of utopia is just find-
ing the truth so that we can act on the truth rather than something different. And I
think that’s all I have to say about utopia right now.
Man: Umm...uh my idea of a utopia is one in which everyone is happy, every single
person on earth, and they have everything that they want and need. That’s it.
Woman: Ok well, my utopic vision is uh pretty I-I don’t know cliché and probably
generic, but it’s somewhere where people are allowed to be whoever they want to you see just a little bit of green here a little bit of green there. I don’t know...
be and aren’t criticized for it, and communities help raise children, and-uh people I don’t know if that is--qualifies for what you want. But umm...yeah this is the place where
don’t take more than they need or-uh pollute in unnecessary ways. the walls come tumbling down and it feels good as opposed to big cities and stuff like
that...but...that’s a strange question-out...to be side-walked. Is that enough. I’m sorry...

Man: Uh my idea of utopia is definitely going to start with lots of delicious crafted
beer umm and would probably involve some hammocks swinging, uh swimming Woman: Color? My favorite color is blue and utopia’d be a place where umm my son is
actually and uh a fair amount of warm weather umm. I would probably like there to still alive, he died in June, so...
be a good amount of uh...social uh-harmony and a bit of a bit of art-making, prob-
ably everyday umm. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.
Boy: My name is Caleb...Kellogg and my favorite color is purple, black, red, and lime
green and my vi-umm utopia is the whole entire world being a skate park and like free food
Woman: My favorite color is blue, Umm probably like a dark-like-dusky blue sky all day long and no people are mean or anything. Yeah.
kinda get-getting towards the dark side. and...I don’t know, utopia’s a really dif-
ficult question, but I think that it would involve a lot more equity, financial equity,
social equity, than there is now and umm you know probably a lot more equity in Woman: Utopia is where I, and everyone, would understand that everything is animate and
terms of access to education, and umm preservation of natural places and beauty, would treat it with the respect and love and gratitude that animate things should be treated
and perhaps a lot fewer cars and that sort of thing. (laughter) Umm....and probably by. Thank you. (laughter)
more time to spend with our family and friends and less time working, but you
know I-I like to work, so you know it’s not that I don’t like work, I just—It’s hard
to find balance, and I think a utopia would be umm a society where there was a little
more balance between work life, home life, family life, and maybe the other things
you like to do in life, intellectual things or you know being out in nature. Its pretty
vague but...so that’s that’s it.

Man: I have no favorite color

Man: Oh. What’s my utopia? Well I don’t—I don’t know (yet?), I-I’ve never
thought of it, but I thought is was a very interesting question. The thing is and the
fact’s is the world is not perfect. We all make a lot dirty things and we does stupid
things, but it’s a good thing because it’s not...so, the world is not perfect. I don’t
believe in u-utopia.

Man: --just like the green you have in Oregon as opposed to where it’s been bleached
out. So, I don’t know how to describe it although when you take your sunglasses off
you just wonder if it’s real or not compared to if you were from somewhere else and
 Index of Color to Utopia by Thomas More
Translated by Paul Turner
Published by Penguin Books Ltd. © 1965

Burgundy, 57
gold
buried by a psychopath, 94
carried by slaves, 88
chains, 88
cloth, 88
coins, 89
crown, 87
earrings, 88
necklace, 87
limited to one thousand pounds, 62
as raw material, 86
in reserve, 85
rings, 88
as sacrificed, 58
-smith, 129
stripped, and inspected in the nude, 94
thread, 127
as a useless substance, 89
in vast quantities, 111
green, and pleasant growing earth, 40
multi-coloured, vestments worn by priests, 127
natural color, wool, 78
purple, cloth, 85
scarlet, cloth, 85
silver
carried by slaves, 88
equivalent to one thousand pounds, 62
as raw material, 86
reserves of, 85
white
dress, of the congregation, 127
linen, 78

Indexes compiled by Anna Gray 2009