Sten.js: Engineering Utopia – A Journey Through Art, Rebellion, and Reality Hacking

Sten.js: Engineering Utopia – A Journey Through Art, Rebellion, and Reality Hacking

Sten.js the Utopian artist

I am Luca Stengrimsen Sten.js, an engineer by training and a self-taught artist by passion. My journey into the world of art stems from a relentless desire to challenge perceptions of reality, combining technology, storytelling, and dystopian visions.

As a child, I had an imaginary friend named Radio—a symbol of rebellion and hope in my inner world. Today, Radio has become a central character in my artistic universe, embodying the themes of resistance and regeneration that define my work.

Through my project Utopia, I create immersive narratives that blur the boundaries between reality and fiction, inviting audiences to participate in the process of reshaping a fragmented and evolving world.

 

Sten.js, Utopia, and Radio: A Comprehensive Overview

The Vision

Utopia is a multidimensional artistic and narrative universe that delves into the fragility of power and the resilience of individuals. Initiated in 2017, this project merges visual art, storytelling, and technology to craft a dystopian world that challenges traditional notions of reality, time, and control.

The concept of Utopia is akin to a corrupted operating system—a "reality.exe" that constantly crashes, requiring forced rewrites. These rewrites generate glitches, birthing new worlds where oppression, resistance, and humanity coexist.

Utopia is not merely a setting but a narrative ecosystem—a living, breathing world that evolves through technology, art, and storytelling, forging deep connections with its audience on emotional, intellectual, and sensory levels.

 

Key Characters

Radio: The Herald of Resistance

Born from my childhood imagination, Radio represents the fight against systemic oppression.

  • Aesthetic and Symbolism: Radio wears a yellow gas mask, a powerful visual symbol of systemic contamination. This imagery conveys both literal and metaphorical radioactivity, encapsulating the destructive yet regenerative power of rebellion.
  • Narrative Role: Radio is a mythical figure, disrupting the regime and injecting chaos into oppressive order—a symbol of hope and danger in equal measure.

Sten.js: The Reality Hacker

As my artistic alter ego, Sten.js takes inspiration from anti-heroes like Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, Tony Montana from SCARFACE and many thers cult movies.

  • Personality and Motivation: Sten.js is a tormented anti-hero navigating the shadows to undermine the system.
  • Symbolism: Sharing Radio's gas mask, he represents contamination as a tool for change. As a “hacker,” he subverts reality itself.
  • Narrative Role: Acting as the audience's guide to Utopia, Sten.js bridges the contradictions of this dystopian world and invites active participation in the fight.

Nixon Clones: Guardians of the System

The Nixon clones embody authoritarianism and consumerism.

  • Narrative Role: They are antagonists, controlling reality through propaganda and advanced technology.
  • Social Critique: Representing modern society’s homogenization, they highlight the dangers of centralized power and conformity.

Artistic Techniques: Blasting

Blasting is a signature technique I developed to "contaminate" images and narratives. By overlaying symbols like the yellow gas mask, textual elements, and digital interventions, I transform visual and narrative content into works that disrupt traditional perceptions.

  • Purpose:
    • To create dissonance between the familiar and the unsettling.
    • To explore how media and imagery can be manipulated to reflect power or challenge it.
  • Applications:
    • Photography: Urban landscapes morph into surreal dystopias.
    • Film and Video: Everyday moments are "blasted" with glitches, Utopia’s symbols, and cryptic messages.
    • Advertising: Satirical ads repurpose consumerist imagery to critique media control.

Project Components

1. Utopia Streets

A subproject that transforms real urban photography into alien, dystopian collages.

  • Creative Process: Real cityscapes are captured and modified using blasting techniques to integrate Utopia's elements.
  • Examples: A photo of Milan becomes a post-apocalyptic tableau, with glitchy visuals and cryptic graffiti.

2. Films and Advertising (Adv)

Imaginary videos and ads expand Utopia’s narrative universe.

  • Style: Ironically dark, visually arresting, and media-savvy.
  • Themes: Consumerism, mind control, and transhumanism.
  • Technology: AI plays a pivotal role in co-creating these pieces.

3. Multilayered Narratives

Utopia’s stories weave together philosophical, biblical, and cyberpunk influences.

  • Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Symbols of destruction and renewal.
  • Seven Deadly Sins: Reflecting systemic flaws and contradictions.
  • Temporal Structure: Time is nonlinear, with cycles of rewrites and glitches creating new realities.

Philosophical Vision

I envision a future where humanity merges with technology, transcending traditional boundaries between biological and artificial. This fusion is not a loss but an evolution toward a collective consciousness shaped by entropy.

  • Message: Destruction always leads to rebirth. Utopia critiques the present while offering a glimpse of what could be.
  • Audience Involvement: Spectators are not mere observers but active participants in rewriting Utopia’s reality.
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