The first iteration of The Utopia Machine is on view at the Getty Gallery in the Los Angeles Central Library for the exhibition No Prior Art: Illustrations of Invention, curated by Todd Lerew, as part of the Getty Foundation’s 2024 initiative, PST Art: Art and Science Collide. The exhibition is on view from September 14, 2024 to May 11, 2025.
“The Utopia Machine is an ongoing project for which I am painting people’s responses to the question “what would make this world into a utopia?” The paintings reference the drawings required to submit a patent with colors inverted, the white becoming black and the black, white. They are all also a bit smudged and include the texts that people submitted explaining their ideas. The paintings are designed so that they all connect to form a collective utopia. So far there are 60 paintings and I’ll continue painting submissions from visitors during the exhibition until I reach 100.” Ellen Harvey, 2024
To send in an idea for how to make this world into a utopia, submit here.
The Utopia Machine, Ellen Harvey, 2024. Acrylic on Alubond panels, each 16 x 12 in. Dimensions variable.
This new exhibition at Central Library’s Getty Gallery and citywide program series explores the intersection of art, science, and invention. From historic artifacts to new contemporary artworks, this project features an eclectic range of stories that explore the nature of human creativity and celebrate the inventive spirit.
Inspired by and drawing from the Los Angeles Public Library’s patent and intellectual property resources and how the library provides opportunities for active creation and invention, No Prior Art features the work of more than a dozen artists and inventors, many with ties to Los Angeles. The project includes work from Mixografia, a multigenerational art studio that invented and patented a unique three-dimensional printmaking process; Pippa Garner, a trans artist whose outrageous inventions act as an exploration of the body and a critique of consumerism; and KAOS Network, an Afrofuturistic innovation lab in Leimert Park founded by artist/filmmaker Ben Caldwell, and Ellen Harvey’s ongoing Utopia Machine, which invites visitors to invent a utopia, among many others.