Nathan Shafer is a new media artist specializing in augmented reality and digital humanities. He responds to REVISED UTOPIAS through examination of his augmented reality project Dirigibles of Denali. This work looks at how three futuristic cities in Alaska never panned out, and how they are now reconsidered.
The 20th Century saw several iterations of utopian living in the form of domed cities. In the 1970s, Alaska saw three proposals for domed cities, which were ultimately unrealized: Arctic City, Seward’s Success and Denali City. Originally Alaska’s domed cities were seen as ways of mastering the harsh Alaskan environment, but in a contemporary context, the notion of domed cities in the age of global warming are less colonial endeavors, and are now viable methodologies of both surviving climate change and preserving the disappearing natural world.
ANCHORAGE: March 16 (Monday) at the Anchorage Museum
FAIRBANKS: March 17 (Tuesday) at Goldie’s AK
JUNEAU: March 18 (Wednesday) at the Hangar Ballroom
