Post- Fordlândia explores the mythologies surrounding Henry Ford’s failed utopia ‘Fordlândia’, a white-picket town constructed by Ford in 1928 in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest. Fordlândia, a now abandoned American town and rubber plantation exists as the most poignant existing monument to Ford’s attempt to export his puritanical model of capitalism “Fordism” and the American way of life into other parts of the world. While the native workers were provided with medical care, white-picket fenced housing, square dancing lessons and American movies, radio and food, they resented the regulation of every aspect of their lives and eventually rioted in1930, resisting “being turned into 365 day machines”, smashing all of the factory time clocks, as a symbolic act against western industrialisation. Whilst Ford’s vision was at once protecting even parental, it was utterly totalitarian, and as industrialised processes became increasingly global, the flaws in Ford’s logic began to erode the fabric of his utopian dream.
Post- Fordlândia explores the ruins of Fordlândia, through an other- worldly protagonist, referencing the writings of the early explorers of the Amazonian jungle, the indigenous myths relating to the rubber tree and Ford’s own vision for Fordlândia. Ultimately, the work contemplates the physical and ideological failure of the exportation of the capitalist dream into one of the most complex ecological and cultural places on the planet, provoking the technological utopianism underpinning Capitalism and the assumption that all societal problems will be solved by endless growth and new technologies.
Using the medium of film, the artists take multiple approaches to the site and place of Fordlândia exploring the space between fiction, documentary, and subjective observation in order to complicate potential readings of the history(s) of Fordlândia.
Text spoken by Florian Pfeiffer
Megs Morley and Tom Flanagan are artists and filmmakers based in Galway who collaborate on film and public art projects. Their work is primarily concerned with exploring cultural and political contexts through the expanded use of cinematic space documentary, fiction and experimental film.
Directed, Filmed and Produced by Tom Flanagan and Megs Morley
