0:00:02 > 0:00:05Utopias come, and utopias go.
0:00:05 > 0:00:09In this series, we've explored these visions of a good place
0:00:09 > 0:00:13as blueprints for future societies,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15and as new ways of living.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20Grand designs and experimental communities that have often failed.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24But is there another path to utopia?
0:00:24 > 0:00:28Smaller, more human in scale.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31A spark of creativity, a moment of perfection.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34A sense of transcendence.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Can we find utopia within?
0:00:36 > 0:00:38Is utopia, after all,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40just a state of mind?
0:00:42 > 0:00:46In this episode I turn the camera on perhaps the most intriguing aspect
0:00:46 > 0:00:48of our relationship with utopia -
0:00:48 > 0:00:52how we relate to the idea as individuals.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57This is not about the utopia of the future
0:00:57 > 0:01:00but about the utopia of now.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I think it's really beautiful and very powerful.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04You could call it the a-ha moment.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06That moment where you go, "Wow."
0:01:06 > 0:01:11The ways we've created to immerse ourselves in a better moment.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16If I'm reading a crowd I can build, like, an entire emotion.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22To push the boundaries of art and expression, to find authenticity.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25People being more expressive, more loving, more argumentative,
0:01:25 > 0:01:27more whatever.
0:01:27 > 0:01:33It's about how the belief in better pushes us to be all that we can be.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:01:46 > 0:01:48If we want to find utopia,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51perhaps we first need to understand what happens
0:01:51 > 0:01:54when grand utopian visions fail.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04With the Velvet Revolutions of 1989
0:02:04 > 0:02:09followed by the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,
0:02:09 > 0:02:14it seemed to many Western minds that Eastern Europe had suddenly awoken
0:02:14 > 0:02:18from the utopian dream - or nightmare - of socialism.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22But I think that the toppled statues
0:02:22 > 0:02:25gathered here in a park in southern Lithuania
0:02:25 > 0:02:28reveal a fascinatingly complex story
0:02:28 > 0:02:32about our relationships with utopia.
0:02:33 > 0:02:39These are symbols of what was once envisaged as a paradise of equality
0:02:39 > 0:02:41and the power of collective effort.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But it was a utopia that crumbled.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49The economy stagnated, party power was often arbitrary and corrupt,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53and many people felt that they were not given sufficient freedom.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00And yet, as the old system was swept away, was something lost?
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Deimantas Narkevicius is a Lithuanian artist.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Originally trained under the Soviet regime,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19he gained growing international attention
0:03:19 > 0:03:22when he captured the strange emptiness left behind
0:03:22 > 0:03:24when Soviet landmarks were suddenly removed.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30I was aware that the city would look different
0:03:30 > 0:03:34when the objects will be gone,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36and I wanted really to document
0:03:36 > 0:03:37their last moment.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42In his 2016 work, Doubled Youth,
0:03:42 > 0:03:48Deimantas recorded the removal of 1950s socialist realist statues
0:03:48 > 0:03:52from a bridge in central Vilnius.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56This lack of cultural sensitivity
0:03:56 > 0:04:00to understand that when the political regime is gone,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03the art objects produced during that regime
0:04:03 > 0:04:08does not automatically represent that regime.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10It becomes cultural objects.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12You seem to be suggesting
0:04:12 > 0:04:15that we still need to respect the cultural output?
0:04:15 > 0:04:21Through culture we understand history richer and more complex.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Deimantas takes me to the bridge
0:04:27 > 0:04:32to see what's become of the now post-utopian space.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36So when the sculptures were taken down,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39the four plinths were standing empty
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and they were looking really provocative
0:04:41 > 0:04:44because they were suggesting that there was something there,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48obviously, and it's something supposed to be there,
0:04:48 > 0:04:52and, I think, for a while there was even an attempt
0:04:52 > 0:04:55to use them for a car advertisement.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59It didn't work because I think people started to protest
0:04:59 > 0:05:00because it looked very vulgar.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03And then arrived these pots, with the flowers.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05I think there will be debates coming.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09What to do with these empty plinths in the future?
0:05:09 > 0:05:13So it strikes me that there's a kind of hunger now
0:05:13 > 0:05:17for more socially aware kind of art to appear back on the bridge.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19Do you see it that way?
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Well, partly, yes,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24because I think we should understand that the society
0:05:24 > 0:05:28was pretty poor during even the post-socialist period,
0:05:28 > 0:05:33and they were really eager to get, you know, better off, you know,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36like get cars and clothing and houses and so on.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41But I think now, 25 years later, they've got that.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46And people think, what is next? What is the vision?
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Because nobody was thinking about kind of the future.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51They were thinking about the past.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55- So, we're kind of missing utopian vision?- I think so.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Plinths...
0:06:02 > 0:06:04with flowerpots on top of them.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10They appear to be metaphors for our society nowadays.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Perhaps a little short on grand shared aspirations.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19Communal utopian ideologies seem to have failed or faded.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23We're left to shape our own lives but we're still searching
0:06:23 > 0:06:27for that good place, trying to find our own utopias
0:06:27 > 0:06:29in our own countless ways.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Perhaps the most commonly held utopian dream today
0:06:33 > 0:06:36is the idea that you can buy your way to happiness.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39You can buy your way to a better place.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41It's the utopia of consumption.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49We've long been bombarded by advertising
0:06:49 > 0:06:53with the simple message - purchases make you happy.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57Buying things gives you freedom, choice and control
0:06:57 > 0:07:02in ways that the socialist utopias could never match.
0:07:02 > 0:07:07But is a consumerist utopia, in its own way, just another illusion?
0:07:07 > 0:07:11How much freedom or control do we really have when our desires
0:07:11 > 0:07:14are constantly stimulated but can never be sated?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17As new products become available,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20there's always something else to buy.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22If only I had a bigger telly,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24a flatter telly, a curved telly,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27a 3D telly, a telly with surround sound,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29then I would be in a good place.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31But, of course, it's a myth.
0:07:31 > 0:07:37The good place of consumption always lies just, just, just beyond reach.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40We never quite get there.
0:07:40 > 0:07:46This spectacle of capitalism and consumerism that we live amongst,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49is cheating us into thinking we can find our way to happiness
0:07:49 > 0:07:50through purchasing.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00On the face of it, the digital revolution,
0:08:00 > 0:08:04the massive technological shift we're living through today
0:08:04 > 0:08:08seems to promise yet more of that consumerist spectacle.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13More than 3 billion of us now live our daily lives hooked to screens
0:08:13 > 0:08:16that are so often seeking to sell us ever more goods.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Now we can access the promise of a consumerist utopia
0:08:21 > 0:08:24at the click of a button.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30But is there a more positive story to tell about the digital world?
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Can it empower us,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35be about more than just consumption?
0:08:35 > 0:08:39Many digital spaces have been imagined to allow us to create
0:08:39 > 0:08:44and, just as importantly, control our own utopias.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47So this is actually the computer we created Civilisation on.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Sid Meier, creator of Civilisation,
0:08:50 > 0:08:55is one of the great innovators of the digital revolution.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58You had to put eight different disks into your computer
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and copy them over onto your hard drive before you could play.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06He pioneered open world strategy games,
0:09:06 > 0:09:08as personal computers filled homes across the planet
0:09:08 > 0:09:11in the early 1990s.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12Civilisation.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14I'm ready. I can do it.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17"BUILDING NEW WORLD." All in caps.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22In Meier's game, you create your perfect world digitally
0:09:22 > 0:09:24from the comfort of your own home,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28leading a people from the dawn of time to the space age.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32I'm very touched that you chose to call your tribe the English.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34HE LAUGHS
0:09:34 > 0:09:35You're welcome.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40The desire to create perfect digital worlds has proved popular.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44In the last 25 years, Civilisation and its sequels
0:09:44 > 0:09:47have sold over 40 million copies.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53And so it falls upon you to fill our people's true destiny.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57Under your leadership, we shall surely prosper.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04From the seeds of this small settlement
0:10:04 > 0:10:06shall you grow our empire.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08Our people await your command.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13I think there are some real comparisons
0:10:13 > 0:10:16between certain utopian urges,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19the desire to explore, to contest,
0:10:19 > 0:10:24to protect whatever utopian vision it is that one has
0:10:24 > 0:10:25and the game Civilisation.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28- Do you agree?- I've never actually looked at it that way,
0:10:28 > 0:10:31but now that you mention it I can see the parallels.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35In a utopia, I think we'd expect technology to progress
0:10:35 > 0:10:39and technology to bring us advances and a better life.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42I think we'd expect nations to communicate with each other
0:10:42 > 0:10:46and work together. I think we'd expect exploration,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49I think we'd expect to explore our planet,
0:10:49 > 0:10:54and, after that, explore the solar system and the universe around us
0:10:54 > 0:10:56so, although Civ wasn't really designed
0:10:56 > 0:10:58with the idea of utopia in mind,
0:10:58 > 0:11:01I think many of the processes that are part of the game
0:11:01 > 0:11:04would be part of a utopia.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07To ensure the safety of our borders
0:11:07 > 0:11:10we must defeat the enemy at its source.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14In playing Civilisation,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19there can be quite a desire to defend your ideal utopian society
0:11:19 > 0:11:22that you're building. There's something very human about that.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25I do think the players get invested in what they create
0:11:25 > 0:11:26because they know it's unique -
0:11:26 > 0:11:28they've designed it, they've built it,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32they've made all the decisions that went into getting to this point.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34So there's a strategy we call turtling,
0:11:34 > 0:11:38which is just protecting what you've built because you're really invested
0:11:38 > 0:11:41in it and want to keep it safe from all the forces of the world that are
0:11:41 > 0:11:42trying to take it away from you.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48There is aggressive expansion,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50conquer the world strategy.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52There are also cultural victories
0:11:52 > 0:11:54or wonder victories.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56If you can build these great wonders you can win the game.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Or if you can bring on world peace
0:11:58 > 0:12:00that's another way of winning the game.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Truly we have achieved a golden age
0:12:03 > 0:12:05of peace and cooperation.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Civ has gone from being just a game
0:12:11 > 0:12:16to people really thinking that it represents a version
0:12:16 > 0:12:20of the real world and now they start to think, you know,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23"I'd really like the world to be a peaceful place and want to try that
0:12:23 > 0:12:26"strategy because it's not just a game on my computer."
0:12:26 > 0:12:29It's kind of a representation of what could happen in the world
0:12:29 > 0:12:32and that brings a whole different type of thinking.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37That whole new type of thinking
0:12:37 > 0:12:41could be key to building tomorrow's utopias.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Look around you.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48The monuments to the old ways of utopian thinking are everywhere.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Religious salvation,
0:12:50 > 0:12:51empire-building -
0:12:51 > 0:12:54the powerful have shaped our world.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57But now perhaps for the first time in human history,
0:12:57 > 0:13:02the common man and woman have been given the chance to design and share
0:13:02 > 0:13:05their own utopias on a global scale.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Here in a refurbished tobacco warehouse in East London,
0:13:14 > 0:13:18young people gather not just to get lost in their own utopias but to use
0:13:18 > 0:13:22digital tools to make a difference in the real world.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26I'm going to go and see the Northern Lights.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Oh, that's exceptionally beautiful.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30It's really very mellow.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35There's a stick on the floor.
0:13:35 > 0:13:36I can pick it up.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42So I am now holding a stick into a fire to see whether it burns.
0:13:44 > 0:13:45That's amazing.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49I think the word digital has been misinterpreted
0:13:49 > 0:13:53in this age as something that's unreal or untouchable,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55something you can't experience.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57For us it's something that's just in another medium.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59It may not be physically touchable
0:13:59 > 0:14:02but the experiences that you can have with it are just as real.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09James Delaney is an architect and entrepreneur who uses the most
0:14:09 > 0:14:12influential game of the last decade to give individuals the tools
0:14:12 > 0:14:15to rebuild their real environment.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21Minecraft, originally a game aimed at children,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23started as a kind of digital Lego.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Players place and destroy blocks in an infinite world,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31limited only by their imagination.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33When you're building, could it be the case
0:14:33 > 0:14:37that another member of your team is building in the same digital space?
0:14:37 > 0:14:39- Yes.- At the same time.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- And I think... - And can you see them working?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44You can see them working and that doesn't sound like a big deal
0:14:44 > 0:14:46but it makes the whole process responsive,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49so every block you place then becomes a response to
0:14:49 > 0:14:52what others are building around you. You're not alone.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55It's not designing a building from the point of view of a God
0:14:55 > 0:14:57or some kind of disconnected view.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00You're actually in the worlds that you're building
0:15:00 > 0:15:03and I think that really helps you think about how the space
0:15:03 > 0:15:06is going to be experienced and used once you're finished.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10In 2013, James Delaney founded BlockWorks,
0:15:10 > 0:15:14his company which democratises the architectural process,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16through Minecraft.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18In this UN-sponsored programme,
0:15:18 > 0:15:23BlockWorks introduced Minecraft to a poor community in Indonesia
0:15:23 > 0:15:28so that they could work together in redesigning, and then rebuilding,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30their town square.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32So as part of the community consultation,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35we discussed their priorities for the space -
0:15:35 > 0:15:39a playground for the children who didn't have a space to play,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41water fountains, fresh water.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43The elders of the village wanted to see
0:15:43 > 0:15:45this traditional Javanese hut.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47This is all co-designed with the people
0:15:47 > 0:15:50- who are going to end up living in the space?- Yes, absolutely.
0:15:50 > 0:15:51It comes from them. We... You know,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54I give them a brief talk on the concept of public space
0:15:54 > 0:15:57and different examples from around the world,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59but ultimately it's up to them what they want to see there.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00And I think, you know,
0:16:00 > 0:16:05this taps into a completely new way of thinking about public design,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09which is bottom-up. You know, the architect, as brilliant as he is...
0:16:10 > 0:16:13..is often sort of autocratic in his design of public space,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16and it's his vision of what that space should be.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19But surely, public space which, you know, serves the community,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22the design of that and the experience of that
0:16:22 > 0:16:24needs to come from the people who are going to use it.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31I can't help thinking that computing power and connectivity
0:16:31 > 0:16:34are enabling extraordinary new ways
0:16:34 > 0:16:37of engaging with and shaping the world,
0:16:37 > 0:16:40especially among the younger generations.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44New forms of digitally empowered utopianism,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46with roots back in hack culture.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57The idea of a bottom-up digital revolution isn't new.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02Hacking started as a way to find workarounds and cut-throughs
0:17:02 > 0:17:05because of the limitations of early computing in the 1960s.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10Often unfairly stereotyped and bracketed with cybercriminals,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13real hackers are not what you might expect.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Here at an international hacking event in Central London,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25200 of Europe's best student hackers have gathered
0:17:25 > 0:17:28for a 24-hour hackathon...
0:17:30 > 0:17:34..to find digital solutions to real-world problems
0:17:34 > 0:17:35in one packed day.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39So, where are you guys all from?
0:17:39 > 0:17:41- I'm from New York.- I'm from Germany.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45This event seems to be about the power of collaboration,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47when it's unimpeded by power structures.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49I'm from India but I study in Edinburgh.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51What are you hacking? What's the theme?
0:17:51 > 0:17:52Are you picking up on a theme?
0:17:52 > 0:17:55We are doing automated search and rescue for disaster situations.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Essentially, the idea is to fly a drone over a big area,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01and then we automatically recognise
0:18:01 > 0:18:03where people are that need to be rescued.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06So, I'm kind of trying to get that to work.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08This is a recipe for real social good.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10You're not just adding knowledge to each other,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12you're multiplying knowledge, right?
0:18:12 > 0:18:15Yeah. I came here with like, "Well, I need some..."
0:18:15 > 0:18:16With the idea. And I felt like,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19"Well, on my own, this will take quite a bit of time to do
0:18:19 > 0:18:21"because I have to acquire quite a bit of knowledge."
0:18:21 > 0:18:24By taking it to a hackathon, you have the opportunity
0:18:24 > 0:18:26to meet people with different knowledge backgrounds,
0:18:26 > 0:18:28and then putting everything together,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30and I'm really accelerating this idea.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33So you've got a brilliant answer for the good of humanity,
0:18:33 > 0:18:35for social good.
0:18:35 > 0:18:40Is there any interest - and be honest - in then trying to sell it?
0:18:40 > 0:18:43The best part about this hackathon is we put all that aside.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44We say, "Let's just fix this,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47"let's build the product, and then we'll worry about, you know, money
0:18:47 > 0:18:51"or jobs or prestige or merit or, you know,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- "acknowledgement."- Essentially it's fun first, business after.- Exactly.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59The media often represent hackers as loners,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01locked in their own obsessions.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05In fact, real hacking is about inventive teamwork.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07It's a revolutionary mode
0:19:07 > 0:19:09of collaborative thinking and doing.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12There is that thing of you're learning together,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15you're building together, and you share it with each other,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17and open source communities and every thing like that.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19And it doesn't really matter
0:19:19 > 0:19:21anything about who you are as a person,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23how you identify or anything like that.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26All of those things are kind of forgotten
0:19:26 > 0:19:27when you're on a team together,
0:19:27 > 0:19:32building anything. And that's really nice and it's not something
0:19:32 > 0:19:34that I've seen many other places.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36Hackathons, it's always...
0:19:36 > 0:19:41You're all, at the end of the 24 hours, pretty wrought.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44And then go off to your far-flung corners of the world.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47To sleep. For a day. To sleep.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50But everybody's in the same position and that makes it really nice,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53and everybody's here to do the same thing and build something cool.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Hackers are no isolated example.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02What they embody - the flattening of the world,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05the belief that the individual can make a difference
0:20:05 > 0:20:09and that hierarchies cannot constrain creativity
0:20:09 > 0:20:11and personal expression -
0:20:11 > 0:20:14is part of a rich seam of utopian culture,
0:20:14 > 0:20:17a deeper tradition that has shaped our history.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30Look closely and you see that the people have been revolting
0:20:30 > 0:20:31for centuries.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38In St Mary's Parish Church in Worley, Lancashire,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41carved into the medieval choir seats,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43you find a much older kind of hacking.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52It's a bit of a weird puzzle.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Why have we got profane imagery
0:20:56 > 0:20:59sitting in a parish church in Lancashire?
0:21:00 > 0:21:03Here we see a blacksmith, replete with all his tools...
0:21:04 > 0:21:07..shoeing a goose.
0:21:07 > 0:21:08It's insane.
0:21:13 > 0:21:14Under other seats,
0:21:14 > 0:21:15we find a girl with a satyr.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20A warrior being beaten by a woman with a pan.
0:21:22 > 0:21:26The pagan and the pious are mixed up in absurd juxtaposition.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30To understand these images,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33we need to understand the significance
0:21:33 > 0:21:34in the medieval mind-set
0:21:34 > 0:21:36of the carnival.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Every year, at Shrovetide, before the abstinence of Lent,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44normal rules and hierarchies were hacked
0:21:44 > 0:21:47during a period of utopian excess.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54It's a fleeting part of the year also captured by artists
0:21:54 > 0:21:55like Pieter Bruegel the Elder
0:21:55 > 0:21:58who depicts fun and frivolity
0:21:58 > 0:22:01breaking out prior to the dreary grind of Lent
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and the return to daily life.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06However alien to today,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09the carnivals turning the world upside down is something
0:22:09 > 0:22:13that Thomas Moore, author of the disruptive fiction Utopia,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15would have been very familiar with.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27In the run-up to Easter,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30the world WAS turned upside down.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Women would dress as men and men would dress as women.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36Social relations would become completely unruly,
0:22:36 > 0:22:38compared to the norm.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40People would drink in excess,
0:22:40 > 0:22:42they'd be out on the street,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44they'd elect a king of fools.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49The week of carnival was really important.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53It was a steam valve that allowed tensions that have built up
0:22:53 > 0:22:56during the year to relax a little.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59But come the end of the week,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01people were almost certainly longing for a return
0:23:01 > 0:23:03to something a little more stable.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09In nearby Middleton, Greater Manchester,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12this tradition of the citizens' utopia survives.
0:23:14 > 0:23:19# We will sing to you a song... #
0:23:19 > 0:23:25This is the annual Pace Egg Play, a revival of medieval customs.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27I am the bold Prince Regent!
0:23:27 > 0:23:29- Oh, yeah?- Yes.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32I rule in this king's stead.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35And so I am his only heir...
0:23:35 > 0:23:37for there's none upon his head.
0:23:37 > 0:23:38LAUGHTER
0:23:38 > 0:23:41The players mock traditional authority figures.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44I've come to fight for old England's rights.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Drop on the head, drop on the heart.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52LAUGHTER
0:23:52 > 0:23:54Arise, arise. Most noble knight, arise
0:23:54 > 0:23:56and no more dormant lay.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59It's a miracle!
0:23:59 > 0:24:01TRUMPET BLOWS, CHEERING
0:24:05 > 0:24:10At Easter, the play is taken through six local pubs...
0:24:10 > 0:24:14Oh, is there a noble doctor to be found?
0:24:14 > 0:24:16..becoming more and more slurred...
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Champion of this deep and deadly world...
0:24:20 > 0:24:22..more anarchic...
0:24:22 > 0:24:23SLURRED SINGING
0:24:23 > 0:24:25..and more ridiculous.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29# They say As you very well do know... #
0:24:29 > 0:24:32- That's the wrong song. - It's the wrong song, yes.
0:24:32 > 0:24:33LAUGHTER
0:24:33 > 0:24:36- I love St John!- CROWD:- Hurray!
0:24:36 > 0:24:40It might all seem frivolous, but there's a deeper purpose here.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42CROWD CHEER
0:24:42 > 0:24:44Well, watching the Pace Egg today,
0:24:44 > 0:24:47it seems to me like anyone in authority is fair game.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50- Oh, absolutely.- Oh, yes. Things like this are an opportunity
0:24:50 > 0:24:52for the downtrodden, as it were,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55to just get a little bit back, you know.
0:24:55 > 0:24:56It was always the case, wasn't it?
0:24:56 > 0:24:58It was the holiday where
0:24:58 > 0:25:02the people, the servants became in charge.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04And the... You know, the lords of
0:25:04 > 0:25:07the manor waited on the servants, and they had their special day.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11And it's all that. It's turning things on their tail, and, you know,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13putting it back at the authority.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17# He's come o'er the sea Old England to view
0:25:17 > 0:25:21# And he's come a Pace Egging with the whole of his crew! #
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Well, Lancashire remains as loopy as it was when I was growing up,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26that's for sure.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28I kind of love this.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32The world is turned upside down at least one day a year in Middleton.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37The fools take over, the kings seem fall and rise again,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41the doctors are mocked, and these guys who are doing this,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44these Pace Eggers, they all understand that they are part
0:25:44 > 0:25:48of a rich, old tradition of mocking power, laughing at authority,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50just to let off a little steam
0:25:50 > 0:25:53before going back to the usual relations.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01The carnival is about coming together
0:26:01 > 0:26:05and sharing a moment of freedom from everyday rules,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07breaking through inhibitions.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11It's an idea that has spurred counter cultures throughout history.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17Music has often been at the leading edge
0:26:17 > 0:26:19of this revolt against the mainstream.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21In recent times,
0:26:21 > 0:26:25it's through musical innovation that downtrodden minorities have found
0:26:25 > 0:26:28moments of escape and transcendence.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32MUSIC: Love Can't Turn Around by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk
0:26:34 > 0:26:37In 1980s Chicago, that minority
0:26:37 > 0:26:40was made up of often poor, black, gay men.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47They found a creative release by subverting established disco music,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49extending the best parts of songs
0:26:49 > 0:26:53and mixing the beats with a distinctive baseline.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01This was house music,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04music designed to get you dancing all night long.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11It was not just blazing hot, but it was damp.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13You couldn't wipe the sweat away enough.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15People were really dancing
0:27:15 > 0:27:17like their life depended on it,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20like there something in it for them beyond just a good feeling.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23You had a moment of absolute freedom.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25And as a teenager, that's a big deal.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29You know? And you're looking for a real experience?
0:27:29 > 0:27:32It was the most real thing that I've ever run across.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Charles Matlock was right there in the earliest days of house.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40He explains how in clubs,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43like the subterranean Muzic Box in downtown Chicago,
0:27:43 > 0:27:48there was a new utopian search for authentic experience,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52spawning the biggest youth revolution since the 1960s.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56They're largely marginalised communities that were part
0:27:56 > 0:28:00of the scene then. So black kids, Latin kids, a large gay community.
0:28:00 > 0:28:02That was a gay club, so was The Power Plant.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05And so for straight kids to be going there,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07it really was something that...
0:28:07 > 0:28:09You had gay friends and you knew it existed,
0:28:09 > 0:28:12but going to a place where you were in the minority
0:28:12 > 0:28:15and realising that they're just people,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17and they're people that like partying the same as you,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20you realise that these kind of artificial lines that we make
0:28:20 > 0:28:24between straight and gay, and black and white, and what have you,
0:28:24 > 0:28:25they're really artificial
0:28:25 > 0:28:27and they're boundaries that are made up by us,
0:28:27 > 0:28:30and if we don't choose to adhere to them,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32they really, truly don't exist.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36- So the dance floor becomes a kind of melting pot where...- Absolutely.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40..music that is a product of a melting pot is celebrated
0:28:40 > 0:28:42and brings communities together.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45It is truly one of those things that...
0:28:45 > 0:28:47all you have to have in common with anybody else
0:28:47 > 0:28:50is enjoying this music and wanting to dance to it.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Were these clubs a kind of escape for the communities of
0:28:54 > 0:28:57young people who were colliding inside them?
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Absolutely. It did provide an escape
0:29:00 > 0:29:03and also safe spaces, such that...
0:29:03 > 0:29:06Again, straight kids go into a gay club,
0:29:06 > 0:29:09I'd never look over my shoulder and say, "Hey, you know,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12"is anybody who doesn't like me thinking about doing something
0:29:12 > 0:29:15"harmful to me?" But members of the gay community certainly did.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18And so this was a place that they could have as their own
0:29:18 > 0:29:21and be themselves and not have to worry about anybody...
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Just the normal oppression that's part of the world.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28So that was definitely an escape for them from this.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31But for all of us, it was an escape from...
0:29:31 > 0:29:35just this normal world that isn't worried about what might you want.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37But it's a temporary release, right?
0:29:37 > 0:29:41It's a temporary vision of a wonderful reality?
0:29:41 > 0:29:44It is. It is. But...
0:29:44 > 0:29:48better to have some time in this other dimension than no time.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52MUSIC: Voodoo Ray by A Guy Called Gerald
0:29:56 > 0:29:58House offered a temporary utopia
0:29:58 > 0:30:00that could be revisited again and again
0:30:00 > 0:30:03and that successfully mutated across borders.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07Transnational, it needs no explanation or language.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12When it made its way across the Atlantic,
0:30:12 > 0:30:16it had a huge influence on British youth culture...
0:30:16 > 0:30:17and on me.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25One, two. One, two.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29I don't really know any of them shouting poems the young...
0:30:29 > 0:30:30young ones do nowadays.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36This is one of my heroes of house,
0:30:36 > 0:30:37A Guy Called Gerald.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40His house hit, Voodoo Ray,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42which he composed in a bedroom studio
0:30:42 > 0:30:46and first played at Manchester's Hacienda club in 1988,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49defined a new era of dance music.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55It was an escape. It was somewhere I could go to
0:30:55 > 0:31:00and people like me...
0:31:00 > 0:31:03You go in through them doors, everything would just change.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08INDISTINCT
0:31:10 > 0:31:16Your music and house music took me to a better place.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18- On the dance floor.- Yeah, yeah. - And everybody around me
0:31:18 > 0:31:21on the dance floor was temporarily in a better place.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24How do you feel when you see a dance floor erupt
0:31:24 > 0:31:28and you see them come together and share this experience?
0:31:28 > 0:31:32There's that part of a track and everyone is kind of getting it
0:31:32 > 0:31:34at the same time, what it is.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37Then, yeah, that is a utopia.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39Yo, make some noise!
0:31:41 > 0:31:44You're looking in people's eyes, and they're like, you know,
0:31:44 > 0:31:48they're having it, like, the same as you're like, "Wow."
0:31:48 > 0:31:49You can't really buy it.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51It's just like this tipping point.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53It's like this balance that everything,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55like, kicks in at the same time.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59If I'm reading a crowd and feeling what's going on,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03then it's like, you know, I can build, like, an entire emotion
0:32:03 > 0:32:06just from the sounds that I've got available.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Watching you on stage, you're in a mental space.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18So it's almost like a personal utopia.
0:32:18 > 0:32:19I do it on the bus.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22Like, sometimes the person next to me wants to move,
0:32:22 > 0:32:25you know what I mean? Cos I just like... I just go off, probably.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29If I hit that sweet spot, eyes roll back and everything, I'm sure.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31- I need to seek help. - HE LAUGHS
0:32:31 > 0:32:33A Guy Called Gerald.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39The UK club scene embraced house music...
0:32:39 > 0:32:42and added its own chemical enhancement.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49With ecstasy prolonging the moment of euphoria, acid house was born.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52MUSIC: Acamar by Frankey & Sandrino
0:33:04 > 0:33:06With drugs and music combining
0:33:06 > 0:33:09to create a form of individual and collective transcendence,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12there were echoes of the 1960s counterculture.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18Back then, the pot-fuelled youth rebellion morphed into a new search
0:33:18 > 0:33:21for the self through Eastern mysticism
0:33:21 > 0:33:23and ever more exotic drugs.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25HE VOCALISES
0:33:31 > 0:33:34But not all cultures have needed drugs to achieve
0:33:34 > 0:33:36an out-of-body experience.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48This is qawwali,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51the devotional music of Sufi Muslims,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55which has its roots in medieval-era Pakistan and India.
0:33:56 > 0:33:57What qawwali singers do
0:33:57 > 0:33:59is they embody the idea
0:33:59 > 0:34:01of taking themselves and
0:34:01 > 0:34:03audiences on a spiritual journey.
0:34:06 > 0:34:11The central concept in qawwali is this idea called qalandri,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14which comes from the word qalandar.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Qalandars are dervishes.
0:34:26 > 0:34:32And the etymology of qalandar is those without limits or boundaries.
0:34:32 > 0:34:38And in medieval texts, qalandars can read people's minds,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42travel backwards in time and obliterate time and space.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47And what qawwali does is makes this its central concept.
0:34:47 > 0:34:51So the music itself can take you into a similar kind of state?
0:34:51 > 0:34:53- That's the idea.- Yeah.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56So the idea is that qawwali is like trance.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00During a qawwali concert,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03one singer recites poetry and religious phrases,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05using hand gestures...
0:35:07 > 0:35:11..while a second singer improvises responses.
0:35:17 > 0:35:23The music builds in intensity as the chorus sings a hypnotic refrain.
0:35:33 > 0:35:39By entrancing listeners through being overwhelmed by the music,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42their ego is dissolved, leaving a void.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45And once the void is created,
0:35:45 > 0:35:51it leaves space to be absorbed by divine dimensions.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Qawwali music is a cosmic quest
0:35:58 > 0:36:00in search of the beloved,
0:36:00 > 0:36:03and more often than not the beloved is God.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Now, to leave the material world
0:36:15 > 0:36:18and to enter the spiritual world
0:36:18 > 0:36:23requires you to go through a spiritual station called barzakh,
0:36:23 > 0:36:28which means "no place" or "inter-space".
0:36:28 > 0:36:31So, Sufis had a concept
0:36:31 > 0:36:33and a word for "no place",
0:36:33 > 0:36:37200 years before Thomas Moore came up with the word utopia,
0:36:37 > 0:36:39meaning literally "no place".
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Qawwali is utopian,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46not just in the state it tries to induce
0:36:46 > 0:36:48but in its communal endeavour.
0:36:48 > 0:36:49Just like house,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53this is music as individual and shared experience.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57This was not religion with a capital R.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01The Sufis were really about connecting with the common man,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04with the guy working in the fields, the guy living in the villages,
0:37:04 > 0:37:09to give the ordinary person some kind of spiritual nourishment,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13some kind of way of understanding their place in the universe.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25RHYTHMIC CLAPPING
0:37:27 > 0:37:32But what if we don't have to escape via drugs or spiritualism at all?
0:37:32 > 0:37:35What if the way to get to the good place of utopia
0:37:35 > 0:37:38is to appreciate more fully
0:37:38 > 0:37:40ordinary, everyday reality -
0:37:40 > 0:37:42the wonder of the moment.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47THEY CLAP RHYTHMICALLY
0:37:49 > 0:37:51This is clapping music,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54written and here performed by the American composer
0:37:54 > 0:37:56Steve Reich.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Reich was inspired by traditional drumming patterns.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02One performer in each pair is providing the rhythm
0:38:02 > 0:38:05while the other is clapping the same pattern
0:38:05 > 0:38:07but phasing in and out of tempo.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12The result is one of the classics of pure minimalism.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19APPLAUSE
0:38:24 > 0:38:25To imagine what people will feel
0:38:25 > 0:38:28when you write a piece of music is impossible.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Where you sit in a room, who you are, what you had for dinner,
0:38:31 > 0:38:33all these things will enter into how you...
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Even the same piece played...
0:38:35 > 0:38:38The same piece played in another time and place.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Music lives when it's played.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Steve Reich has pushed musical boundaries
0:38:46 > 0:38:50by encouraging audiences to focus on less.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53He simplifies music to its purist form
0:38:53 > 0:38:57using repetition and also real world sounds as instruments.
0:39:01 > 0:39:06There is this constant set of astonishing innovations.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10You've taken found sounds, you're looping,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14- you are effectively proto-sampling using tape loops.- Right.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16Well, the word "sampling" didn't exist when we did that,
0:39:16 > 0:39:18it was called tape loops, and tape this and tape that.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21And now when most people say tape, they think of Scotch tape.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23HE LAUGHS
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Audio tape is something that they may or may not have heard of,
0:39:26 > 0:39:28and certainly rarely seen.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38City Life, Reich's 1995 composition,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41uses found sound that he himself recorded in New York.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49With it, he asks us to cut through the chaos of the city noise and find
0:39:49 > 0:39:52music and poetry in the everyday.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57The integration
0:39:57 > 0:40:01of the sounds is basically the idea of marrying, if you will,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03the found sound on the street -
0:40:03 > 0:40:06the slam of the car door becomes the bass drum, say,
0:40:06 > 0:40:10and the air brakes - kshh! - becomes a crash cymbal,
0:40:10 > 0:40:14the Porsche horn becomes an oboe,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16and so on and so forth.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20And I think that kind of thinking is what's in City Life,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23where you take something that's not a musical sound and you think,
0:40:23 > 0:40:26"What's the musical, you know, correlative of that?"
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Reich's work is meditative,
0:40:33 > 0:40:34like house and qawwali,
0:40:34 > 0:40:39but also technically demanding of musicians and audiences alike.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42I get a sense with Reich of the restless explorer,
0:40:42 > 0:40:46a utopian testing of what's musically possible.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Is your musical drive somehow utopian?
0:40:50 > 0:40:54I think every artist who's the least bit serious...
0:40:56 > 0:40:57..is slightly self-critical,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00and therefore there is more in my trash basket
0:41:00 > 0:41:02than there is in the finished piece.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06So that's certainly trying to make sure that you do your best.
0:41:06 > 0:41:12I think that striving to do the very best job that you can do is a very
0:41:12 > 0:41:15good and fairly common human trait.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20I mean, I certainly hope that the sound man is trying to,
0:41:20 > 0:41:23and the cameraman, are trying to do the best that they can.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31Whether it's Steve Reich's music of the everyday world
0:41:31 > 0:41:35or the lure of qawwali's higher spiritual plane,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38this pursuit of utopia is all about
0:41:38 > 0:41:42more fully experiencing a fleeting moment.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45It's about the utopia of the now.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51How do we get the best out of each moment,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54and, as a result, out of ourselves?
0:41:54 > 0:41:55For the Japanese,
0:41:55 > 0:41:58one way to connect with the pure moment
0:41:58 > 0:42:02is to represent it and express it through haiku,
0:42:02 > 0:42:07the ancient art of extremely precise and brief poetry.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09"6am
0:42:10 > 0:42:13"The cat's tongue in my ear."
0:42:13 > 0:42:14LAUGHTER
0:42:14 > 0:42:16Sorry, that's disgusting.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20- It's really good, though.- Yeah.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Maximum impact with minimum words,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26perfection using the fewest syllables.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30That's the utopian goal of these members of the British Haiku Society
0:42:30 > 0:42:33meeting in Fleet Street, London.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35"Apple blossom
0:42:35 > 0:42:39"The clenched fist of her infant, opening."
0:42:39 > 0:42:41The image of the child's hand opening
0:42:41 > 0:42:43but also like apple blossom opening,
0:42:43 > 0:42:45I think it's really beautiful and very powerful.
0:42:47 > 0:42:53Haiku is a very short poem and its purpose is to capture a moment.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55If you see something beautiful
0:42:55 > 0:42:57and you describe that in some way
0:42:57 > 0:43:00that lets the person who's reading it
0:43:00 > 0:43:02know what you're feeling about it,
0:43:02 > 0:43:04that's a beautiful haiku.
0:43:04 > 0:43:05"First coffee
0:43:05 > 0:43:09"The barista's overnight mascara."
0:43:09 > 0:43:11That's a very sharp observation,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13and you know there's an untold story behind it.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17- Yeah.- And we all just imagine. - LAUGHTER
0:43:17 > 0:43:22There are haiku that you just think, "Oh, of course!"
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Or, "Oh, I know that feeling."
0:43:25 > 0:43:26You could call it the a-ha moment,
0:43:26 > 0:43:29that moment when you go, "Wow!"
0:43:29 > 0:43:31"Bare, in your bathroom
0:43:31 > 0:43:34"Another girl uses my rose petal mouthwash."
0:43:34 > 0:43:37- VARIOUS:- Oooh!
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Achieving the a-ha moment comes with limitations.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43"The sky is bluer
0:43:43 > 0:43:46"Always on the other side.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48"Up-chucking homeless."
0:43:48 > 0:43:52The only problem with it, of course, is it's not a haiku moment.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56You've set yourself quite tight parameters.
0:43:56 > 0:44:01Do you find that limiting or do you find it actually liberating?
0:44:01 > 0:44:04It makes you think very hard.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07And I think that's the joy of it, really.
0:44:07 > 0:44:13So it's limiting, but it's limiting in a very thoughtful kind of way.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15It's a bit like meditation.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17You're focusing on one thing.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19"At quayside
0:44:19 > 0:44:21"The fishermen casting out shadows."
0:44:22 > 0:44:24Oh, that's great!
0:44:25 > 0:44:29It seems to me that this is really very, very much
0:44:29 > 0:44:34about living in a moment and being aware of the fact that we are
0:44:34 > 0:44:35living in a moment.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37One of the problems people have, I think,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41is that they have this running commentary on their life,
0:44:41 > 0:44:44and so when they're out and about,
0:44:44 > 0:44:48what they're doing is actually thinking all the time of,
0:44:48 > 0:44:51you know, what the credit card limit is,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53"What time is the train?", you know,
0:44:53 > 0:44:56"Is that girl going to be there?" or whatever or whatever.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59Now, the haiku writer has to step back from that,
0:44:59 > 0:45:02switch off the running commentary of your life.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04And I think that's why it's so popular with Zen Buddhists.
0:45:04 > 0:45:07- Absolutely.- Because the whole stuff about moments
0:45:07 > 0:45:09and being in the now.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11It's being in that state of being aware.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15Do you feel that, after you're finished writing,
0:45:15 > 0:45:18you go back into the real world...
0:45:20 > 0:45:23..better, enriched, improved?
0:45:23 > 0:45:25I think so, yes.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Because you're seeing things anew.
0:45:29 > 0:45:34Every time you write a good haiku, it's a small epiphany.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37You've seen the world for what it is.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39Martin Lucas, who was
0:45:39 > 0:45:43an outstanding haiku writer, who died recently,
0:45:43 > 0:45:46he talked about haiku being the news!
0:45:46 > 0:45:50You know, all the stuff that's happening on television,
0:45:50 > 0:45:52that isn't the real news.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54The real news is haiku.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56If you read haiku, you get the truth.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00It's time for me to pursue epiphany.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02You need to bear in mind
0:46:02 > 0:46:05I've never tried to write a haiku before this morning.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09I've come up with my own haiku about utopia.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14"No place, better place
0:46:14 > 0:46:17"Imagine, contest, repeat
0:46:17 > 0:46:20"The itch unscratched."
0:46:20 > 0:46:24It's not... Well, it needs to be about a moment, really.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26And it's not, is it?
0:46:26 > 0:46:28- No.- And it's got commas is in it.
0:46:28 > 0:46:30We don't do commas in haiku.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33- Oh, we do sometimes.- Very occasionally, but not all those.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36Yeah, but you're supposed to be listening to me read it, not...
0:46:36 > 0:46:38You're reading over my shoulder!
0:46:39 > 0:46:44OK. I might not be a haiku master, but I'm still struck by the haiku
0:46:44 > 0:46:49writer's desire to record perfectly the moment's perfection.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Sometimes it's quite tragic what you're writing.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53It's something quite sad and moving.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56Sometimes it's hilarious. Sometimes it's beautiful and succinct.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00But it's always looking for something better.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03I think you're utopians.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08That kind of glimpse of a fleeting moment or of something in transition
0:47:08 > 0:47:12actually reflects our relationship to utopia in that it's never
0:47:12 > 0:47:15something that can be experienced completely, it's always glimpsed.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Getting that glimpse of a better place that might just help us to be
0:47:22 > 0:47:24better people.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28It seems to me that we try to unpack the significance of an observed
0:47:28 > 0:47:29moment in many ways,
0:47:29 > 0:47:33not just through poetry but through other art forms.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36We love to be transported by storytelling,
0:47:36 > 0:47:40and no more so than through drama.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42At multiplexes and in the theatres,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45we're at home with our various screens.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49I think we seek out the truth of other people's experiences
0:47:49 > 0:47:52in ways akin to reading a haiku.
0:47:52 > 0:47:56Here, we live vicariously through actors' experiences,
0:47:56 > 0:48:00moving out of ourselves and connecting emotionally.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02People go to the theatre.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05People watch movies to see life in all its facets.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08Sometimes life as it is, but also sometimes life as it could be.
0:48:09 > 0:48:10People being more connected,
0:48:10 > 0:48:12more expressive, more loving,
0:48:12 > 0:48:14more argumentative, more whatever.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16To have that additional intensity,
0:48:16 > 0:48:17that additional lifefulness,
0:48:17 > 0:48:20and I think improvisation can really be a way
0:48:20 > 0:48:21that, if actors embrace it,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24you can have a performance that just gives so much more
0:48:24 > 0:48:26to an audience because it's so much more alive,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28so much more rich, so much more felt.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30A makes the shape, B joins.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34Stay there for a moment, and then A says thank you.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37Chris Heimann is an award-winning director
0:48:37 > 0:48:40and an improvisation teacher at Rada.
0:48:40 > 0:48:41You're not trying to create, I would say.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45You're just noticing your own response to what you are doing.
0:48:46 > 0:48:51Here in South London, he's running a workshop using improvisation to help
0:48:51 > 0:48:56actors lose their self-consciousness so as to bring greater authenticity
0:48:56 > 0:48:57to their performances.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00One of the reasons why people act?
0:49:00 > 0:49:03You get more permission to be angry or sad or whatever it is.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05An impulse is also what we are looking for, right?
0:49:05 > 0:49:08As an actor, between your impulse and your expression,
0:49:08 > 0:49:09there is nothing.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16Improvisation like this is inspired by the utopian performance ideas of
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Jerzy Grotowski and the Poor Theatre School,
0:49:18 > 0:49:22which revolutionised acting in the 20th century.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26Overturning old-fashioned declamatory styles,
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Grotowski argued for a transparent actor,
0:49:29 > 0:49:32a kind of minimalism in acting.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35The idea of being...that you have an actor who is so transparent
0:49:35 > 0:49:38that any inner impulse is immediately expressed,
0:49:38 > 0:49:40so there's no filter. There's no armour.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44There's nothing in between the actual impulse happening within
0:49:44 > 0:49:46and the outer expression.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49That's something that I feel that is something very, very raw
0:49:49 > 0:49:51and exciting also for an audience to watch,
0:49:51 > 0:49:52and something to aspire towards.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59These ideas have been hugely influential in experimental theatre
0:49:59 > 0:50:04from Brecht to Brook. The key insight, it seems to me,
0:50:04 > 0:50:07is that all performances are unique,
0:50:07 > 0:50:10a collaboration between performer and audience.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13And there is something very generous here.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16The performer taking a risk, stripping back the mask,
0:50:16 > 0:50:18bearing their inner selves to create
0:50:18 > 0:50:21an empathic connection with an audience.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23That was weird. We kind of had a... Wheee!
0:50:23 > 0:50:26We're going to have a fight, and then it was kind of...
0:50:26 > 0:50:28I'm being a bit submissive there.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31Is this some kind of S&M thing? Then I was kind of...
0:50:31 > 0:50:33"Stop my brain, stop my brain, what's going on?"
0:50:33 > 0:50:35And then your face kind of changed into something like...
0:50:35 > 0:50:37More grace in your face.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41- So, yeah.- What I would say, if you, as an actor,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45have the courage to wait until something genuinely comes to you
0:50:45 > 0:50:48as an impulse, you might become dangerous without even trying,
0:50:48 > 0:50:50simply because you have the courage to wait for something
0:50:50 > 0:50:52to genuinely trigger something.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56It seemed to me that there was a kind of peeling away
0:50:56 > 0:50:58of actorly conventions
0:50:58 > 0:51:01in order to liberate them a little bit.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04One of the things that I remember from...
0:51:04 > 0:51:06reading Grotowski's works
0:51:06 > 0:51:10is this idea of additive arts versus subtractive arts,
0:51:10 > 0:51:13meaning that, in painting, you start with an empty canvas and you keep
0:51:13 > 0:51:15adding the paint, whereas in sculpting,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19you chip away stuff in order to reveal what's already there.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24And that is definitely the kind of approach that I take
0:51:24 > 0:51:25to actor training.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28It's not about slapping more and more skills onto the actor,
0:51:28 > 0:51:34it's about helping them to let go of unhelpful thoughts, behaviours,
0:51:34 > 0:51:39expectations, to come back to something that is more pure,
0:51:39 > 0:51:40that's already there.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42Almost like a child.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48Searching for authentic moments in drama and storytelling is, I think,
0:51:48 > 0:51:51more than escape from the humdrum of daily life.
0:51:51 > 0:51:56It's about something much bigger - connecting with others.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Every time we tell a story, every time we enjoy a performance,
0:52:00 > 0:52:03every time we think we can feel someone else's feelings,
0:52:03 > 0:52:09we are exercising one of the most important traits - empathy.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11The more empathetic we are,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14the more generous and tolerant we become as human beings,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18perhaps the closer we get to utopia.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21MUSIC: Ride Of The Valkyries by Wagner
0:52:24 > 0:52:26This kind of generosity,
0:52:26 > 0:52:29this sharing of moving and thought-provoking art
0:52:29 > 0:52:32has a long and rich history.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35For me, one of the most extraordinary attempts to connect
0:52:35 > 0:52:38was made by a 19th-century composer.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51Idealising utopian visions from Norse myth,
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Richard Wagner tried to create a total reality in which audiences
0:52:55 > 0:52:58could emotionally immerse themselves.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02Total art - work that is complete in and of itself.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07This might seem like the naive controlling dream
0:53:07 > 0:53:09of a troubled genius,
0:53:09 > 0:53:13but there's something undeniably generous in Wagner's desire
0:53:13 > 0:53:18to share a fantastical vision that might inspire audiences
0:53:18 > 0:53:19to reflect anew on life.
0:53:20 > 0:53:24Wagner's passion has certainly shaped one man's life.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26Nice to see you. Lovely day.
0:53:26 > 0:53:31Builder Martin Graham connected with Wagner so much,
0:53:31 > 0:53:34he dreamed of staging Wagner's work in his back garden,
0:53:34 > 0:53:36deep in the Cotswolds.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40Just in case I ever fancy building an opera house in my back yard,
0:53:40 > 0:53:41how long does it take?
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Does that count dreaming about it?
0:53:44 > 0:53:46- Yeah, definitely.- Oh, years, years.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49MUSIC: Siegfried's Funeral March by Wagner
0:53:52 > 0:53:56Over the years, Martin transformed the cow shed next to his house
0:53:56 > 0:53:58into a fully functioning opera house,
0:53:58 > 0:54:01complete with 500 hand-me-down seats
0:54:01 > 0:54:04from the Royal Opera House refit.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08His labour of love has now staged
0:54:08 > 0:54:11the whole of Wagner's 15-hour-long Ring cycle.
0:54:25 > 0:54:30Is there a parallel between Wagner's total work of art,
0:54:30 > 0:54:34this vision of the full, encompassing experience
0:54:34 > 0:54:38for the audience, and the vision that you had here?
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Well, of course. I didn't think of it in that way when I started.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44I just thought, "I want to build the theatre,
0:54:44 > 0:54:46"and then we'll build the pit,
0:54:46 > 0:54:49"and then we'll build the orchestra." But in fact,
0:54:49 > 0:54:54as we went on, people modified their views and thought,
0:54:54 > 0:54:56"Well, maybe it IS possible.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58"Maybe he isn't completely nuts."
0:55:09 > 0:55:13When you listen to Wagner, where does it take your mind?
0:55:14 > 0:55:16It's fantasy,
0:55:16 > 0:55:18and it's magical, and it's emotional,
0:55:18 > 0:55:21and it really tears your inside out.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Perhaps it all comes back again to innocence.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36Martin Graham's fascination with the magical started with something
0:55:36 > 0:55:39we might all remember and recognise -
0:55:39 > 0:55:41a child's curiosity.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46When I was a little boy, I used to go out in the fields,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49and the first thing I did when I got out of sight,
0:55:49 > 0:55:50so nobody could see me,
0:55:50 > 0:55:52is I put my hand over one eye...
0:55:53 > 0:55:56..and I used to call that my dark eye,
0:55:56 > 0:55:58and it took me to another world.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02And it was a little bit of childish fantasy,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and it still comes back to me quite a lot.
0:56:04 > 0:56:08If you just want to extract yourself
0:56:08 > 0:56:12from the world and go into the arts, just do that,
0:56:12 > 0:56:14in your own way.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19What I find remarkable is that Martin Graham
0:56:19 > 0:56:23has kept his curiosity and his enthusiasm for the arts
0:56:23 > 0:56:26and has also had the self belief and drive
0:56:26 > 0:56:28to share what he loves with others.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34Do you feel that there is something utopian about this,
0:56:34 > 0:56:38that you are building a better place here?
0:56:38 > 0:56:40There is. There is something absolutely tremendous.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42Because it's like a love affair.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45Once you get going, there is a reciprocity.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50And the sort of people who... Your customers who pay you good money
0:56:50 > 0:56:53and don't mind the odd leaking roof,
0:56:53 > 0:56:55they're the giants of it all
0:56:55 > 0:56:58because they're just endorsing you and encouraging you
0:56:58 > 0:57:00and saying, "Go on."
0:57:00 > 0:57:03And then, of course, they are part of the joint enterprise.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06It's a wonderful, magical feeling to think -
0:57:06 > 0:57:10all those people enjoy themselves for a four-hour,
0:57:10 > 0:57:15five-hour evening, and come out literally beaming with joy.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18For some,
0:57:18 > 0:57:20I think it's almost a religious experience.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28In art, in life,
0:57:28 > 0:57:33to believe in greater than ourselves is an act of imagination,
0:57:33 > 0:57:34of closing the eye,
0:57:34 > 0:57:39of temporarily letting go and moving into a better place.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45From Thomas Moore to Sid Meier,
0:57:45 > 0:57:48explorers to feminists,
0:57:48 > 0:57:51hedonists to artists,
0:57:51 > 0:57:55visionaries and communal pioneers,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57the steps we've taken to improve our world,
0:57:57 > 0:58:01sometimes in the face of great adversity,
0:58:01 > 0:58:05have all started within our imaginations.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07These dreams are deeply personal
0:58:07 > 0:58:10and, at the same time, wonderfully communal.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14And though utopias fail, although our gains can be lost,
0:58:14 > 0:58:17I think that Thomas Moore would be proud that the urge
0:58:17 > 0:58:20to hope for better, for which he coined a name,
0:58:20 > 0:58:24has become something that humans show no sign of losing.