End of semester 1 - Essay - Heterotopia

Heterotopia

Question:
• What was Foucault’s concept of Heterotopia? In contrast, what is Utopia? How can the concept of Heterotopia be applied to specific works by Ólafur Eliasson, Christo & Jean Claude. 

Foucault distilled heterotopia into six concise points:

• Heterotopias are where norms of behaviour are in suspended crisis or deviation. 
• Heterotopia have a precise function and reflect the society in which they exist. 
• Heterotopia have the power to juxtapose several real spaces simultaneously. 
• Heterotopia are linked to slices of time, can be transitory, and can accumulate producing evidence of accumulation over time. 
• Heterotopia are not freely accessible. They have an opening and a closing. They usually require some sort of permission to enter. 
• Heterotopia have a function in relation to the rest of space, they are spaces of compensation. Potential to make us contemplate everyday spaces, but are commonly fragmented and illusory situations  (Foucault, Des Espace Autres, 1984). 

"The gaze is the anxiety of looking as we seemingly only understand ourselves in relationship to others, the same could be said of the juxtaposition or imposition of monumental installations, as so much as the spaces they occupy are required to be reconsidered. Artistic heterotopia enable a place of play within a place. A pause of perception, a view into another way of thinking. The contrast the artificial sun, and juxtaposing of thousands of yellow gates requires those experiencing the works up close, personally, simultaneously and collectively to project the conscious gaze back upon themselves. " - Final paragraph from my essay on Heterotopia. August 2020.

anneke_stewart_ct_sem1_final_essay.pdf
File Size:	7631 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

I am interested how artistic installations embody the concept of Heterotopia.
Defining and referencing such a massive concept into a 3000 word essay is a tall task, however by researching and distilling the topic I became adamant Heterotopia were to be a cornerstone of my project.