Utopia Sounds Like a Good Idea by Joshua Duttweiler

Artist Statement:

In 1966, the City of Corpus Christi received a commissioned report from Trinity Testing

Laboratories that proposed an off-shore highway and a series of man-made islands along the

Corpus Christi Bay. The concept development aimed to create new spaces for recreation,

residency, and tourism. Looking out into the bay, today, it’s hard to imagine this alternate

future–a utopian vision of Corpus Christi as a highway-tourism-paradise. The project never

developed beyond the proposal phase, and the concept maps and renderings became artifacts

that represent yet another attempt to improve the city’s infrastructure.

In the shadow of one of the largest U.S. bridge projects, now the city’s identity shifts once more.

Its coastal community, in a limbo between pride for the land’s beauty and the impact of industrial

development projects on the bay’s ecology, is on a radical precipice of economic and

environmental realities. The increasing petrochemical production along with population

migration trends to warmer climates are pushing our fragile ecosystem past the tipping point.

Utopia Sounds Like a Good Idea, encourages viewers to follow a path through the gallery–

reminiscent of the proposed 1966 highway route–and stop at each piece [island] and consider

how top-down government and industry decisions made in the past create potential futures of

this region. Whether through the building of bridges or walls, ask yourself, who’s utopia are we

constructing? Who’s dystopia? Who do we tie the stories of disenfranchisement, dislocation and

dissolution to? What future are we endorsing with our actions or lack thereof?

Consider what opportunities exist to shape our communities, protect beauty, and foster dreams

for ourselves, our community, and our future generations.

Bio:

Joshua Duttweiler is a designer, artist, and educator whose multi-disciplinary practice spans

personal, collaborative, and client-based projects. His work is deeply rooted in social justice,

community building, and critically explores recorded histories and constructed societal systems

to amplify new voices. Joshua regularly exhibits his work both nationally and internationally.