Visual Utopias

BY JAN KAMENSKY

Visual Utopias and the power of images.

Skalitzer Street, Berlin

Last year, I no longer wanted to wait for the increasingly urgent global change; I wanted to contribute myself. I started by looking around at what surrounded me and many other people every day. Where did I see an urgent need for action in my environment?

The empty streets at the beginning of the 2020 made me realize I wanted to look at a city without cars. As a communication designer who knows Photoshop for image editing and After Effects for animation, I realized this is it—this is where I can use my talent. So I started this experiment.

In a way, this also makes me a translator. Art helps to translate theoretical insights and knowledge into an accessible language: the language of images. In doing so, images develop a special quality that reaches viewers in a low threshold and catchy way. Images speak a universal language. Images have the potential to generate feelings and enthusiasm.

The utopian approach of my animations has a decisive function. After viewers visit the utopia, they return to reality with a sharpened view. This is an invitation to reflect on our reality and hold a mirror up to society. The expansion of consciousness is in the foreground, not so much the feasibility of my visions. Although, I would certainly be happy about the implementation.

The bicycle plays an essential role in my animations. Compared to other methods of transport, it is unsurpassed in its ingenuity. It is emission-free, takes up little space, and can be used in many ways. It not only promotes the health of those who ride it but also of those who do not. And, cycling is often a great pleasure. These characteristics have a positive effect on pedestrians, as well as on the environment. It’s about getting from A to B safely and in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

This requires cooperative mobility that is characterized by solidarity. At present, there’s little sign of this. Competition and dominance of the automobile prevail in road traffic. This is highly antisocial. If we move in an environmentally friendly and safe way, there’s another decisive aspect: It is fun and very healthy. We will all benefit from new mobility—even if it will hurt the car at first. The mobility revolution will only be a success when it is not only implemented on the road but also in people’s minds.

In addition to a transport infrastructure geared toward people’s well-being, we need a new attitude, a changed mentality towards mobility. We need to be aware of the impact our locomotion has on our planet, even if it looks green at first glance. The people in the cities have proven that a life without a car is possible. Let’s use our technological progress so we do not have to switch back to horses and carriages. Let’s use it in a way that makes mobility truly sustainable. Besides, the most ingenious means of transport has already been invented: the bicycle.

Visual Utopias imagines what this street in Berlin would look like if there were no cars on it.

© VISUAL UTOPIAS

Jan Kamensky

Art Director, Visual Utopias

Hamburg, Germany Jan Kamensky lives and works in Hamburg. In 2020, the communication designer and artist started the project of his utopian animations. The deserted streets of Hamburg at the beginning of 2020 inspired him to playfully transform car-dominated streets into people-friendly places that hold a mirror up to society.