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A digitally augmented metaphorical response to an age-old question, namely, is there a dark side to the human endeavor to create the perfect habitation able to sustain the lifestyle of our own choosing within the natural limitations of the planet earth? One person’s notion of Utopia is another person’s nightmare.The background scenes for Arcadia were shot in the pristine Canadian Pre-Cambrian Shield that contains some of the oldest rock formations on the planet. Each scene was then digitally augmented incorporating elements that never could have occurred naturally. For example, in one scene, multiple copies of a dancer inspired by the Japanese Butoh movement are placed into the scenery along with giant smokestacks. The uncanniness of the verisimilitude convinces the viewer that the scene was captured as is with the camera, and causes the viewer to re-interpret their understanding of Utopia, the impact of human activity, and our moral stance to our environment and to each other.

Rick Fisher when not working at a full time job as Technical Coordinator at Video Pool Artist-Run Centre, helping to raise his three young children or researching genocide, Winnipeg based video artist Rick Fisher makes video artworks over extended periods of time mostly with fellow prairie artist Don Rice. After undergraduate art school, Rick worked underground in a mine for ten years. He subsequently worked at media arts artist-run centers on the Canadian prairies for twenty years.