We’re on the home straight in Utopia now, beginning our trip down the far east of the country with two artists examining its very outskirts.

The Fringes of the Utopian Dream – Eric Powell, Montreal, Canada

“This piece explores the pain and longing of an existence situated across the water from Utopia.

What happens at the fringes of the utopian dream?

By convolving field recordings of Northern Saskatchewan through an autoharp, “E1″ offers a wistful glimpse of the liminal spaces at the edge of the map.”

 

The Rural Farmland of Utopia – Dave Dorgan, Orlando, USA

“Grid square E1 was outside of Utopia to the northeast. The grid itself had no man made structures in view.

I treated it as rural woodland/farmland in between towns. The piece starts down by the water.

The listener is gradually taken inland with the piece closes after sunset.

Contact with civilization is sparse: kids playing down by the water, a tree being cut down, a dog barking.

The opening (water) and closing (crickets) field recordings were made by me.

The rest was the manipulation of Creative Common sounds from freesound.org.”