Utopic Optimization Exhibit is Coffman’s Newest Hidden Gem

Exploring how the internet reflects our own human desire

By: Joshua Kloss

This semester, students at the University of Minnesota have an opportunity to experience art in a medium that relishes in an unconventional style and communicates a deeply existential message.

“Utopic Optimization” was created by Jordan Homstad, an undergraduate student at the University pursuing a BFA in Studio Art and Art History. According to Jordan’s website, their work frequently employs a wide variety of “scavenged imagery, text, and collage techniques” to examine and comment on how internet fandoms employ technology to form relationships.

Upon first reading that, you might be a bit confused. I certainly was when I read the exhibit’s description, which proclaimed that the exhibit is “based on digital collages of found images and texts that investigate the virtual world existing parallel to reality.” But that description is probably the best way to explain what is going on with Jordan’s art. I think that the best way I can describe the five different canvases I saw at the exhibit are; indeed, collages of multimedia, three of which I noticed had 3-D aspects that popped out of the acrylic painting on the canvases. In one situation, the 3-D feature was an orange text that repeated the phrase: “I think I’m probably the third one.” Another one of the pieces had physical wiring spiraling out of the canvas, resembling a robot or some other mechanical being. The last 3-D feature was of a small figurine of an anime character on a platform jutting out of the painting. These may seem nonsensical, and in some people’s interpretations, that checks out. But they do have a purpose nonetheless, which I wouldn’t have noticed whether my friend had pointed out a specific detail of one of the paintings.

To say nothing of the words “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” which were painted in the bottom left corner of one of the pieces, would leave one clueless about how to interpret Jordan’s work. But these words are actually the title of a 90’s anime that chronicles a boy who must join a squad of child mech pilots headed by his father in order to fight monsters named Angels. Of course, this is a drastically simplified synopsis, but the important thing to know concerning the anime is that it is referenced in every single one of the paintings in the exhibit.

With this presence of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” in mind, one can make sense of the exhibit as reinforcing themes such as human loneliness, our need as social creatures to interact with one another, and idealized (or utopic) existence. Indeed, the internet can offer humans all three of these things: a form of interaction that is an escape from both loneliness and an imperfect world. With something as limitless as the world wide web, online communities flourish among like-minded individuals, or at the very least, individuals who share a niche interest. In many of these communities, the fetishization of certain female characters in media is unfortunately present as well, and that is something that Jordan mentions as being a focus in their artwork.

In a broader sense, though, I think that Jordan’s exhibit can be a judgment of the internet as it exists today. The disorienting clash of mediums mirrors the mess that is our internet; the different parts of each piece can be taken on their own or as an important cog that serves a Gestalt whole. I think that “Utopic Optimization” is a valuable discussion of the insatiable human urge to connect with something: whether that be 90’s anime girls, a higher power, or others around you. Experiencing the exhibit alongside my friends is a testament to this: at that moment, I felt as if we were all connecting in the most valuable way that the human experience can offer. Truly, Jordan’s work is unique, abstract, and something that can be interpreted in multiple ways.

And ultimately, that is the best part about all of this: the exhibit relies on audience interpretation, and this article offers only one such perspective. After all, art as complex as Jordan’s can never offer only one explanation. If you are interested in visiting “Utopic Optimization” for yourself, the exhibit can be visited on the second floor of Coffman Memorial Union, in the hallway gallery.