“Escapism is the mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an “escape” from the perceived unpleasant aspects of daily stress.” There are both positive, as well as negative strains of thought towards escapism. On the one hand, it is considered healthy and beneficial to one’s health, in order to relieve stress, and allow for, as well as encourage, creativity. However on the other hand, especially when taken to extremes, escapism has negative connotations. It is often looked upon as the inability to cope with the realities of the everyday world.
Escapism is closely tied to nearly every aspect of our culture. Our culture provides the reality and context of our everyday lives, and this is often what many unknowingly seek to escape. We have sought many ways to create alternate worlds in which we live for a time. Escapism has many forms; amongst these are the obvious, such as fiction literature, sports, video games and other similar activities. There are also less straight forward forms, such as revolts and revolutionary movements, religion, numerous art forms, drugs, and music.
Amongst each form seems to be a positive and a negative. For example, in escapism literature it is not uncommon for dystopias to be created as opposed to utopias. Is it easier to imagine the lack of any hope as opposed to imagining having everything? Or is escapism the synthesis of the ‘opposite’ of the world which we are apart?
Another dynamic is whether escapism is to be producing something or being absorbed by what is produced. For example, watching sports as opposed to playing sports; playing an instrument as opposed to listening to music; leading a revolt as opposed to following; and the list continues.
My thesis will investigate how architecture can become a form of Escapism. It will explore the creation of architecture as well as the experience of architecture. It will also test the positive side of the Escapism as well as the negative side. It will reveal new questions dealing with aspects of escapism and the creative world we live in both physically and mentally.
