Page 9 - Art First: Simon Morley: Lost Horizon
P. 9
Lost Horizons
e dream of a perfect society certainly didn’t originate with omas More’s
famous work of 1516. He just gave it another name: Utopia. It’s a dream that
is probably as old a mankind itself and it has gone by many names. In one of
my works for this exhibition I’ve listed 39, but there are certainly more. ey can
be found in many different cultures, contexts and periods—expressed in forms
as diverse as ancient myths, religions, political ideologies, fiction, Hollywood
movies, and the virtual realities of cyberspace.
In Chinese mythology we find Mount Penglai, a mystical land where it is said the
Eight Immortals abide. Here there is no winter. ere is no suffering or pain. Rice
bowls and wine glasses are never empty, and magical fruit grows with the ability
to heal all diseases, grant eternal youth, and even raise the dead. King Qin Shi
Huang, the first emperor of a unified China, who reigned from 221 BC –210 BC,
believed that such a magical island really existed in the East Sea, and sent expedi-
tions to discover it. But of course they failed. Instead, the King was obliged
to satisfy himself with the creation of a miniature version, built in his garden.
is in its turn founded the tradition of the Chinese, and then the Kor eans and
