Click here to view the video component of this project!

I believe Brooklyn is an extreme representation of the experimentation of the United States in creating a Utopian Society based on making a home away from home. The constant influx of immigration from abroad and from within America into neighborhoods in Brooklyn can raise tensions and connections. We have all come to call this place home as we strive to survive and create new community for our families and ourselves that is genuine to our culture. This energized effort is the Utopian pulse of Brooklyn.

My goal for this project is to raise awareness of ideas of “home” and how we are connected to our communities. Two maps have been created for each site: Old Stone House and Brooklyn Historical Society. I am asking viewers to participate in this work by marking the place they call home on the map. I am also asking participants to log their homes in the book, giving information about their immigration to Brooklyn. They are also invited to share stories about their neighborhoods in the Community Diary.

For this exhibition, I have physically connected the two maps with a red string so that the viewer can see the various neighborhoods that make up the unique areas of Brooklyn where the three Brooklyn Utopias? shows take place. I invite viewers to also take this walk and feel the sense of community in these very diverse neighborhoods. I have also connected the three sites through a video of string being unwound over the route on the map.

- Ellie Balk