Seeing the Past in Present Tense-Paula Levine

"Monuments, commemoratives, memorials assert themselves in our consciousness, creating a presence that calls for remembrance,"

I found this interesting especially in respect to the Harburg monument, which has been relatively forgotten. It's a monument which has been looked past, loosing it;s meaning and it's memory, being replaced by unaware or caring shoppers, cigarette butts, and grass. It brings to the question how can a community forget an important monument of the past.

Monuments are an important part of the present as well as the past. Commemorating some sort of significant event, ect.

Culture Jamming-Mark Dery

"Culture Jamming" is an interesting term I'd never really thought about before. The "media hacking, information warfare, terror-art, and guerrilla semiotics, all in one." Some manifestations of culture jamming are sniping and subvertising. We are subjected to the jamming all the time, and we never even realize it.

We also never realize how much we are involved in the "TV experience." It's crazy to think how many people are bound by this and how it even leads to the rejection of things that boost intellect like books for example. I love to read but I have to admit that I watch more TV than I do reading. All that pointless time sitting in front of a screen, watching useless shows or movies I could have spent reading a good book. It's kind of sickening but the amount of people watching television is huge.

It's also interesting to learn about the histories of why and when television became popular and used more. For example times like the Persian Gulf War and the Reagan years.

"Reality isn't what is used to be," a very true quote, Dery even uses perfect examples to back up this notion of reality.

Culture Jamming

Little Fang Night Care

This is where I put my logo in public, at child care centers and nursery schools. I decided to put them in these places because it goes along with my logo a lace that takes care of children, even though mine is for vampire children. I left it up in the places I posted and every time I drive by it, I laugh and am also happy they leave it up.

This particular location is off of Lawton and Great Highway on the corner, unfortunately it was under construction but at the same time it was fortunate because they left a perfect plastic case in which i place it in.

I'm sorry that the logo is hard to see, but we wanted to fit in the nursery school sign.

3rd Event

Musee Mechanique !

I had peeked in this museum once before because of the creepy, carnival music/laughing but I had never fulling explored the place. It is amazing, I had no idea how many interesting things this museum would hold...and for free! There was so many sexual things, so many references to drunks, and so much death, for example the multiple guillotine scenes. It was so much fun walking through and seeing how old all of these things were and how explicit they were as well, especially compared to the actual new age arcade in the back. Besides the amusement there was also a lot of cultural history, for example the horse that resembled Muybridge's galloping horse. I could go on and on about this museum, I had no idea how much fun I would have, as well as how much fun my friends would enjoy it as well!

proposal

Proposal: Improbable Monument-Memorial Tombstones

Introduction:

My Improbable Monument idea is to create six large headstones/tombstones and place them in National Parks within the six continents (Africa, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia). And engraved on each of the tombstones will be the names of the extinct species of each continent.

Background:

This monument is in memorial to all of the animals and species that have become extinct and are no longer with us. It's a monument in memorial and as a way to remember. And hopefully these monuments will help protect the species of the future.

People need to be aware of the significant impact we have in the world, including the disruption of the natural world.In the past animals became extinct because of natural causes but now because of human beings existence animals have been becoming extinct because of hunting, pollution, or the destruction of the places where they live. As well as the number of extinct animals around the world is growing.

This monument will be important in bringing to awareness the issue of human involvement in the animal and natural world. Even the extinction of a species that seems insignificant is important. Perhaps this monument will reduce the amount of deaths that occur every year by calling to attention to this issue in a monumental way.

Project Description (including timeline and costs):

The audience for these monuments is all of the people in the world. They are for everyone to see the importance of a memorial to all of the species of the world that no longer exist. They are for humans to understand the impact that they have on the world and how devastating it can be sometimes.These gravestones are monuments for remembrance as well as awareness.

The graves will be made out of granite, a common material used when making tombstones. And although granite is very expensive when making even regular sized graves it is a good, durable material. The cost of each will be around $45,000. There will also be labor and transportation costs, which are part of the total estimated cost.

Because they are made out of granite they will have to be maintained and inspected regularly, this is done by monumental masons. These masons focus on the “creation, installation, and repairs of the tombstones,” (wiki) They are also each specialized in different and various professional tasks.They also restore the graves in order to avoid damage. They also do not refer to tombstones as tombstones but rather markers or monuments.

The inscriptions on the surface of each tombstone will be made by using computer controlled rotary bits and sandblasting. This is a process that can engrave many different designs and letters, it's also much easier than carving by hand (especially on such a large surface).Engraved on each will be the names of the extinct animals and also the ancient symbol of life, the Ankh.

In order to actually create these larger than life tombstones a lot of time, money, and service is required. Extremely skilled monumental masons and volunteers will be creating these monuments. Depending on the weather conditions of each continent will be the basis on when production will occur. It will take around 2-3 years to finish the project, if everything works out as planned; but with everything there are always unexpected consequences.

The headstones will also be very large, ranging at about 50 feet tall. This is to demonstrate the monumental importance of them, their meant to be seen from a far as well. They are also able to fit all of the names of the extinct species which is an enormous list and there will be room for future animals whom become extinct.

These monuments will be placed within National parks that are relevant with nature and the protection of animals, etc. They will also be surrounded by gates, similar to that of a traditional cemetery.Within the gates and surrounding the monuments will be informational plaques, including the names of the species, information about extinct and endangered species, information on how to help, along with other things. There will also be benches for people to spend time there, peacefully.There will also be a possible option that visitors can bury their pets or the ashes of loved ones there. A donation is also asked of the visitors which will go to causes that help and protect endangered species of the world.

Benefits:

The public gains the benefit of awareness and the chance to take a stand and help the species of the world that are still alive but still have the threat of extinction among them. It is an important memorial monument that is acknowledging a large group of animals that will no longer walk this earth. Even thesmallest mollusk will be mentioned on these monuments. Just because they are not significant to most people in the world, they were still once a living creature and they should be memorialized just as much as the next pet dog or grandmother.

“The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest trans microscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceited eyes and knowledge.” -Tim Vechter

Memorial Monument

Memorial's Dedicating the Extinct Species of the World:

Event 2

SF MOMA !

Another place I attended was the SF MOMA which was an interesting experience. This was the first time I attended the MOMA in San Francisco which I found ridiculous that i'd never been before. It' not my favorite museum but there was a lot of awesome artwork inside. One of the first things I saw when I got there was actually a wall on Sol Lewitt which was awesome because we had just learned about him in class. Unfortunately I don't have a digital camera so I have to wait for my film to develop but I wish I could have taken some photos of the amazing artwork that I really loved. There were a lot of larger than life pieces that were just incredible that I could not stop looking at; and I feel if you can find that type of work it makes the experience so much brighter.